
Glass. 



El-i 







Book_-. M44& 



I^IO 



THE 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

ITS GRAMMAR, HISTORY 
AND LITERATURE 




BY 



: D. MEIKLEJOHN, M.A. 



PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY, HISTORY, AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION 
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND 



AMERICAN EDITION 
REVISED 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 






\^° 



copyright 1887 and 1906 by d. c. heath & company 
all rights reserved 

2d3 






Pr'uted in U. S. A. 



■x. 



PREFACE 

This book is divided into four parts, arranged in the se- 
quence in which they would naturally be studied. Each part, 
however, is independent of the others, and may be studied by 
itself. 

It is hoped that the book will prove useful in high schools, 
academies, and seminaries, as well as to candidates for teachers' 
examinations and civil service examinations. The various 
topics have been prepared upon the assumption that the stu- 
dent has already studied a part of the work in an elementary 
form. 

The most salient features of the language have been de- 
scribed, and minor details have been left for the teacher to 
fill in as needed. The utmost clearness and simplicity have 
been the aim of the writer, and he has been obliged to sacrifice 
many interesting details to this aim. 

The study of English grammar is necessarily becoming more 
and more historical. There are scores of inflections and 
constructions and idioms which cannot be truly or adequately 
explained without a reference to the past states of the language, 
to the time when it was a synthetic or inflected language, like 
German or Latin. 

The subject of syntax has been set forth in the form of rules. 
This is thought to be better for young students who require 
firm and clear dogmatic statements of fact, but the skilful 
teacher will work up to these rules by the interesting process 
of induction, and, when possible, will induce his pupils to draw 
the general conclusions from the data given. 



IV PREFACE 

Another convenience that will be found by both teacher and 
student in this form of rules is that they can be compared with 
the rules of foreign languages, such as Latin, French, and 
German. 

It is hoped that the sketch of the history of the English 
language and of its literature, contained in Parts III and IV, 
may not only give the student a general survey of the subject, 
but may also lead him to the attitude of mind of Oliver Twist, 
and induce him to " ask for more ! " 

The Index will be found useful in comparing the parts of 
each subject, as all separate paragraphs about the same subject 
will be found there grouped together. 

J. M. D. M. 
REVISED EDITION. 

In making the present revision the needs of the better class 
of American educational institutions have been kept con- 
stantly in mind. Advantage has been taken of the oppor- 
tunity to incorporate into the book the latest results of 
modern scholarship. Errors of fact and the occasional use 
of an obsolete nomenclature have been eliminated. All of the 
numerous changes made have been suggested by American 
scholars of note. It is hoped that the marked favor so long 
shown toward the book in its original form may be trans- 
ferred to this revised American edition, which is in scholarly 
accuracy even more worthy of kindly regard. 

April 1905. 



CONTENTS 



PAET I. 



Language 
Orthography 
Etymology . 

Nouns . 

Pronouns 

Adjectives 

Verbs 

Adverbs . 

Prepositions 

Conjunctions 

Interjections 
Words and their Functions 
Syntax 

Noun 

Nominative Case 
Possessive Case 
Objective Case 
Dative Case 

Adjective 

Pronoun 

Verb . 

Adverb . 

Preposition 

Conjunction 
Analysis 

Simple Sentence 

Forms of Sentences 

Parts of the Sentence 

Nominative of Address 

Complex Sentence 

Cautions in the Analysis of Complex Sentences 

The Mapping Out of Complex Sentences 

Compound Sentence 

Co-ordinate Sentences . 

Parenthetical Sentences 



VI CONTENTS. 










PAGB 


Word -building and Derivation . . .116 


Prefixes and Suffixes 










119 


English Prefixes 










120 


Latin Prefixes . 










123 


Greek Prefixes . 










126 


English Suffixes . 










128 


Latin and French Suffixes 










134 


Greek Suffixes . 










141 


Word-branching 










143 


English Roots . 










144 


Latin Roots 










147 


Greek Roots 










152 


Words derived from the Names of Persons 






. 154 


Words derived from the Names of Places 






158 


Words disguised in Form .... 






161 


Words that have Changed in Meaning . 






168 


PAET II. 


Composition ... . .175 


Punctuation 


. 






. 187 


Figures of Speech . 


. 






. 189 


Paraphrasing 








. 192 


Prosody 


. 






. 194 


Exercises 


. 






. 207 


Examination Questions 










. 243 



PART III. 



The History of the English Language 
History of the Vocabulary 
History of the Grammar 



269 
280 
317 



PART IV. 



Outline of the History, of English Literature 
Tables of English Literature 



347 
429 



Index 



459 



PAET I. 

THE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



INTRODUCTION. 

1. What a Language is. — A Language is a number of cor. 
nected sounds which convey a meaning. These sounds, car- 
ried to other persons, enable them to know how the speaker 
is feeling, and what he is thinking. More than ninety per cent 
of all language used is spoken language ; that which is written 
forms an extremely small proportion. But, as people grow more 
and more intelligent, the need of written language becomes more 
and more felt ; and hence all civilised nations have, in course 
of time, slowly and with great difficulty made for themselves a 
set of signs, by the aid of which the sounds are, as it were, 
indicated upon paper. But it is the sounds that are the 
language, and not the signs. The signs are a more or less 
artificial, and more or less accurate, mode of representing the 
language to the eye. Hence the names language, tongue, 
and speech are of themselves sufficient to show that it is the 
spoken, and not the written, language that is the language, — • 
that is the more important of the two, and that indeed gives 
life and vigour to the other. 

2. The Spoken and the Written Language. — Every civilised 
language had existed for unknown ages before it was written 
or printed. Before it was written, then, it existed merely as 
a spoken language. Our own tongue existed as a spoken 
language for many centuries before any of it was committed 
to writing. Many languages — such as those in the south of 
Africa — are born, live, and die out without having ever been 
written down at all. The parts of a spoken language are 
called sounds; the smallest parts of a written language are 



4 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

called letters. The science of spoken sounds is called Pho- 
netics ; the science of written signs is called Alphabetics. 

3. The English Language. — The English language is the 
language of the English people. The English are a Teutonic 
people who came to this island from the north-west of Europe 
in the fifth century, and brought with them the English tongue 
— but only in its spoken form. The English spoken in 
the fifth century was a harsh guttural speech, consisting of a 
few thousand words, and spoken by a few thousand settlers 
in the east of England. It is now a speech spoken by more 
than a hundred millions of people — spread all over the world ; 
and it consists of more than a hundred thousand words. It 
was once poor ; it is now one of the richest languages in the 
world : it was once confined to a few corners of land in the 
east of England ; .it has now spread over Great Britain and 
Ireland, the whole of North America, the whole of Australia, 
and parts of South America and Africa. 

4. The Grammar of English. — Every language grows. It 
changes as a tree changes. Its fibre becomes harder as it grows 
older ; it loses old words and takes on new — as a tree loses old 
leaves, and clothes itself in new leaves at the coming of every 
new spring. But we are not at present going to trace the 
growth of the English Language ; we are going, just now, to 
look at it as it is. We shall, of course, be obliged to look back 
now and again, and to compare the past state of the language 
with its present state ; but this will be necessary only when we 
cannot otherwise understand the present forms of our tongue. 
A description or account of the nature, constitution, or structure 
of a language is called its Grammar. 

5. The Parts of Grammar. — Grammar considers and exam- 
ines language from its smallest parts up to its most complex 
organisation. The smallest part of a written language is a let- 
ter; the next smallest is a word; and with words we make 
sentences. There is, then, a Grammar of Letters ; a Grammar 
of Words ; and a Grammar of Sentences. The Grammar of Let- 
ters is called Orthography ; the Grammar of Words is called 
Etymology ; and the Grammar of Sentences is called Syntax. 



THE GRAMMAR OF LETTERS. 5 

There is also a Grammar of Verse ; and this grammar is called 
Prosody. 

(i) Orthography comes from two Greek words : orthos, right ; and 
graphe, a writing. The word therefore means correct writing. 

(ii) Etymology comes from two Greek words : etumos, true ; and logos, 
an account. It therefore means a true account of words. 

(iii) Syntax comes from two Greek words : sun, together, with ; and 
taxis, an order. When a Greek general drew up his men in order of 
battle, he was said to have them "in syntaxis." The word now means 
an account of the structure of sentences. 

(iv) Prosody comes from two Greek words : pros, to ; and ode, a song. 
It means the measurement of verse. 



THE GRAMMAR OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS, 
or ORTHOGRAPHY. 

6. The Grammar of Sounds. — There are two kinds of sounds 
in our language : (i) the open sounds ; and (ii) the stopped 
sounds. The open sounds are called vowels ; the stopped 
sounds consonants. Vowels can be known by two tests — a 
negative and a positive. The negative test is that they do not 
need the aid of other letters to enable them to be sounded ; 
the positive test is that they are formed by the continuous 
passage of the breath. 

(i) Vowel comes from Old French vouel (Latin vScdlis, sounding). 

(ii) Consonant comes from Lat. con, with ; and sono, I sound. 

(iii) Two vowel-sounds uttered without a break between them are 
called a diphthong. Thus oi in boil ; ai in aisle are diphthongs. (The 
word comes from Greek dis, twice ; and phthonge, a sound. ) 

7. The Grammar of Consonants: (1) Mutes. — There are 
different ways of stopping, checking, or penning-in the con- 
tinuous flow of sound. The sound may be stopped (i) by the 
lips — as in ib and ip. Such consonants are called Labials. 
Or (ii) the sound may be stopped by the teeth — as in id 
and it. Such consonants are called Dentals. Or (iii) the 
sound may be stopped in the throat — as in ig and ik. 



6 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

These consonants are called Gutturals. The above set of sounds 
are called Mutes, because the sound comes to a full stop, 
(i) Labial comes from Lat. labium, the lip. 

(ii) Dental comes from Lat. dens (dents) a tooth. Hence also dentist. 
(iii) Guttural comes from Lat. guttur, the throat, 
(iv) Palatal comes from Lat. palatum, the palate. 

8. The Grammar of Consonants: (2) Spirants. Some con- 
sonants have a little breath attached to them, do not stop the 
sound abruptly, but may be prolonged. These are called 
breathing letters or spirants. Thus, if we take an ib and 
breathe through it, we make it an iv — the b becomes a v. If 
we take an ip and breathe through it, it becomes an if — the p 
becomes an f. Hence v and f are called spirant labials. The 
following is a 



1 


rABLE 


OF CONSONANT 


' SOUNDS. 






MUTES 




NASAL. 


SPIRANTS. 




Flat 
(or Soft). 


Sharp 
(or Hard). 




Flat 
(or Soft). 


Sharp 
(or Hard). 




Gutturals 


g 

(in gig) 


k 


ng 




h 




Palatals . 


J 


ch 

(church) 




y 

(yea) 






Palatal \ 
Sibilants J 








zh 

(azure) 


sh 

(sure) 


r 


Dental \ 
Sibilants J 


... 






Z 

(prize) 


S 


1 


Dentals , 


d 


t 


n 


th 

(bathe) 


th 

(bath) 




Labials 


b 


P 


m 


V, W 


f,wh 


... 



(i) The above table goes from the throat to the lips — from the back to 
the front of the mouth. 

(ii) Another term for flat is voiced or sonant, and for sharp, voiceless 
or surd. 



THE GRAMMAR OF LETTERS. 7 

9. The Grammar of Letters. — Letters are conventional 
signs or symbols employed to represent sounds to the eye. 
They have grown out of pictures, which, being gradually pared 
down, became mere signs or letters. The steps were these : 
picture ; abridged picture ; diagram ; sign or symbol. The 
6um of all the letters used to write or print a language is called 
its Alphabet. Down to the fifteenth century, we employed a set 
of Old English letters, such as a h C — X g £, which were the 
Roman letters ornamented ; but, from that or about that time, 
we have used and still use only the plain Roman letters, as 
a b c — x y z. 

The word alphabet comes from the name of the first two letters in 
the Greek language : alpha, beta. 

10. An Alphabet. — An alphabet is, as we have seen, a code 
of signs or signals. Every code of signs has two laws, neither 
of which can be broken without destroying the accuracy and 
trustworthiness of the code. These two laws are : 

(i) One and the same sound must be represented by one and 
the same letter. 

Hence : No sound should be represented by more than one letter. 

(ii) One letter or set of letters must represent only one and 
the same sound. 

Hence : No letter should represent more than one sound. 

Or, put in another way : 

(i) One sound must be represented by one distinct symbol, 
(ii) One symbol must be translated to the ear by no more 
than one sound. 

(i) The first law is broken when we represent the long sound of a in 
eight different ways, as in — fate, braid, say, great, neigh, prey, gaol, 
gauge. 

(ii) The second law is broken when we give eight different sounds to 
the one symbol ough, as in — bough, cough, dough, hiccough ( = cup), 
hough (=hock), tough, through, thorough. 

11. Our Alphabet. — The spoken alphabet of English contains 
forty-three sounds ; the written alphabet has only twenty-six 
symbols or letters to represent them. Hence the English al- 



8 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

phabet is very deficient. But it is also redundant. For it 
contains five superfluous letters, c, q, x, to, and y. The work 
of the letter e might be done by either k or by */ that of q 
by k ; x is equal to ks or gs ; w could be represented by oo ; 
and all that y does could be done by i. It is in the vowel- 
sounds that the irregularities of our alphabet are most discern- 
ible. Thirteen vowel-sounds are represented to the eye in more 
than one hundred different ways. 

(i) There are twelve ways of printing a short i, as in sit, Cyril, busy, 
women, etc. 

(ii) There are twelve ways of printing a short e, as in set, any, bwry, 
bread, etc. 

(iii) There are ten ways of printing a long e, as in mete, marine, meet, 
meat, key, etc. 

(iv) There are thirteen ways of printing a short u, as in bud, love, 
berth, rough, flood, etc. 

(v) There are eleven ways of printing a long u, as in rude, move, blew, 
true, etc 



THE GEAMMAE OF WOEDS, or ETYMOLOGY. 

There are eight kinds of words in our language : (i) Names 
or Nouns, (ii) The words that stand for Nouns, called Pro- 
nouns, (iii) The words-that-go-with-Nouns or Adjectives, 
(iv) The words -that -say -something -of- Nouns or Verbs. 
(v) The words that go with Verbs or Adjectives or Adverbs, 
called Adverbs, (vi) The words that-show-relation, called 
Prepositions. (vii) Those that-join-Words-and-Sentences, 
called Conjunctions, (viii) Interjections, which are indeed 
mere sounds without any organic or vital connection with 
other wOrds; and they are hence sometimes called extra- 
grammatical utterances. Nouns and Adjectives, Verbs and 
Adverbs, have distinct, individual, and substantive mean- 
ings. Pronouns have no meanings in themselves, but merely 
refer to nouns, just like a ig^P in a book. Prepositions and 
Conjunctions once had independent meanings, but have not 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF NOUiNS 9 

much now : their chief use is to join words to each other. 
They act the part of nails or of glue in language. Interjections 
have a kind of meaning ; but they never represent a thought — 
only a feeling, a feeling of pain or of pleasure, of sorrow or of 
surprise. 

NOUNS. 

1. A Noun is a name, or any word or words used as a 
name. 

Ball, house, fish, John, Mary, are all names, and are therefore nouns. 
" To walk in the open air is pleasant in summer evenings." The two 
words to walk are used as the name of an action ; to walk is therefore 
a noun. 

The word noun comes from the Latin nomen, a name. From this word we havtt 

also nominal, denominate, denomination, etc. 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS. 

2. Nouns are of two classes — Proper and Common. 

3. A proper noun is the name of an individual, as an in- 
dividual, and not as one of a class. 

John, Alary, London, Birmingham, Shakespeare, Milton, are all proper 
nouns. 

The word proper comes from the Latin proprius, one's own. Hence a 
proper noun is, in relation to one person, one's own name. From the same word 
we have appropriate, to make one's own ; expropriate, etc. 

(i) Proper nouns are always written with a capital letter at the 
beginning ; and so also are the words derived from them. Thus we 
write France, French, Frenchified ; Milton, Miltonic ; Shakespeare, Shake- 
spearian. 

(ii) Proper nouns, as such, have no meaning. They are merely marks 
to indicate a special person or place. They had, however, originally a 
meaning. The persons now called Armstrong, Smith, Greathead, no 
doubt had ancestors who were strong in the arm, who did the work of 
smiths, or who had large heads. 

(hi) A proper noun may be used as a common noun, when it is em • 
ployed not to mark an individual, but to indicate one of a class. Thus 
we can say, " He is the Milton of his age," meaning by this that he 
possesses the qualities which all those poets have who are like Milton. 

(iv) We can also speak of " the Howards," " the Smiths," meaning a 
number of persons who are called Howard or who are called Smith. 



10 GRAMMAE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

4. A common noun is the name of a person, place, or thing, 
considered not merely as an individual, but as one of a class. 
Horsey town, hoy, table, are common nouns. 

The word common comes from the Lat. communis, "shared by several"; and 
we find it also in community, commonalty, etc. 

(i) A common noun is so called because ib belongs in common to all 
the persons, places, or things in the same class. 

(ii) The name rabbit marks off, or distinguishes, that animal from 
all other animals ; but it does not distinguish one rabbit from another — 
it is common to all animals of the class. Hence we may say : a com- 
mon noun distinguishes from without ; but it does not distinguish within 
its own bounds. 

(iii) Common nouns have a meaning; proper nouns have not. The 
latter may have a meaning ; but the meaning is generally not appro- 
priate. Thus persons called Whitehead and Longshanks may be dark 
and short. Hence such names are merely signs, and not significant marks. 

5. Common nouns are generally subdivided into — 

(i) Class-names. 

(ii) Collective nouns. 

(iii) Abstract nouns. 

(i) Under class-names are included not only ordinary names, but 
also the names of materials — as tea, sugar, wheat, water. The names 
of materials can be used in the plural when different kinds of the 
material are meant. Thus we say " fine teas," " coarse sugars," when 
we mean fine kinds of tea, etc. 

(ii) A collective noun is the name of a collection of persons or 
things, looked upon by the mind as one. Thus we say committee, 
parliament, crowd; and think of these collections of persons as each 
one body. 

(iii) An abstract noun is the name of a quality, action, or state, 
considered in itself, and as abstracted from the thing or person in 
which it really exists. Thus, we see a number of lazy persons, and 
think of laziness as a quality in itself, abstracted from the persons. 
(From Lat. abs, from ; tractus, drawn.) 

(a.) The name? of arts and sciences are abstract nouns, because they are the 
names of processes of thought, considered apart and abstracted from the 
persons who practise them. Thus, music, painting, grammar, chemistry, 
astronomy, are abstract nouns. 

(iv) Abstract nouns are (a) derived from adjectives, as hardness, 
dulness, sloth, from hard, dull, and slow; or (6) from verbs, as growth^ 
thought, from grow and think. 



THE INFLEXIONS OF NOUNS. 11 

(v) Ab&iract nouns are sometimes used as collective nouns. Thus we 
say " the nobility and gentry " for " the nobles and gentlemen " of the 
land. 

(vi) Abstract nouns are formed from other words by the addition of 
such endings as ness, th, ery, hood, head, etc. 

6. The following is a summary of the divisions of nouns : — 

NOUNS. 
I 



Proper. Common. 



i i I 

Class-Names. Collective Nouns. Abstract Nouna. 



THE INFLEXIONS OF NOUNS. 

7. Nouns can be inflected or changed. They are inflected to 
indicate Gender, Number, and Case. 

We must not, however, forget that differences of gender, 
number, or case are not always indicated by inflexion. 

Inflexio is a Latin word which means bending. An inflexion, therefore, i* a 
bending away from the simple form of the word. 

Gender. 

8. Gender is, in grammar, the mode of distinguishing sex by 

the aid of words, prefixes, or suffixes. 

The word gender comes from the Lat. genus, generis (Fr. genre), a 
kind or sort. We have the same word in generic, general, etc. (The 
d in gender is no organic or true part of the word ; it has been in- 
serted as a kind of cushion between the n and the r.) 

(i) Names of males are said to be of the masculine gender, as master, 
lord, Harry. Lat. mas, a male. 

(ii) Names of females are of the feminine gender, as mistress, lady, 
Harriet. Lat. femina, a woman. (From the same word we have 
effeminate, etc.) 

(iii) Names of things without sex are of the neuter gender, as head, 
tree, London. Lat. neuter, neither. (From the same word we have 
neutral, neutrality.) 

(iv) Names of animals, the sex of which is not indicated, are said to 
be of the common gender. Thus, sheep, bird, hawk, parent, servant, are 
common, because they may be of either gender. 



12 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(v) We may sum up thus : — 

Gender. 

! 

I I I I 

Masculine. Feminine. Neuter. Common. 

{Neither) {Either) 

(vi) If we personify things, passions, powers, or natural forces, we may- 
make them either masculine or feminine. Thus the Sun, Time, the 
Ocean, Anger, War, a river, are generally made masculine. On the other 
hand, the Moon, the Earth (" Mother Earth "), Virtue, a ship, Religion, 
Pity, Peace, are generally spoken of as feminine. 

(vii) Sex is a distinction between animals ; gender a distinction be- 
tween nouns. In Old English, mouth was masculine, tongue, feminine, 
and eye, neuter. But we have lost all these distinctions, and, in 
modern English, gender always follows sex. 

9. There are three ways of marking gender : — 

(i) By the use of Suffixes, 
(ii) By Prefixes (or by Composition). 

(iii) By using distinct words for the names of the male and 
female. 



I. Gender marked by Suffixes. 

A. Purely English or Teutonic Suffixes. 

10. There are now in our language only two purely English 
suffixes used to mark the feminine gender, and these are used 
in only two words. The two endings are en and ster, and the 
two words are vixen and spinster. 

(i) Vixen is the feminine of fox ; and spinster of spinner {spinder or 
spinther, which, later on, became spider). King Alfred, in his writings, 
speaks of " the spear-side and the spindle-side of a house " — meaning the 
men and the women. 

(ii) Ster was used as a feminine suffix very largely in Old English. 
Thus, webster was a woman-weaver; baxicr (or bag ster), a female baker ; 
hoppester, a woman-dancer ; redester, a woman-reader; huckster, a femalt 
hawker (travelling merchant) ; and so on. 

(iii) In Ancient English (Anglo-Saxon) the masculine ending was a, 
and the feminine e, as in wicca, wicce, witch. Hence we find the names 
of many Saxon kings ending in a, as Ida, Offa, Penda, ete. 



GENDER INDICATED BY SUFFIXES AND PREFIXES. 



13 



B. Latin and French Suffixes. 

11. The chief feminine ending which we have received from 
the French is ess (Latin, issa). This is also the only feminine 
suffix with a living force at the present day — the only suffix we 
could add to any new word that might be adopted by us from 



a foreign source 








12. The following are nouns whose feminines end in ess : 


Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Actor 


Actress. 


Host 


Hostess. 


Baron 


Baroness. 


Lad 


Lass. 


Caterer 


Cateress. 


Marquis 


Marchioness. 


Count 


Countess. 


Master 


Mistress. 


Duke 


Duchess. 


Mayor 


Mayoress. 


Emperor 


Empress. 


Murderer 


Murderess. 



It will be noticed that, besides adding ess, some of the 
letters undergo change or are thrown out altogether. 

There are other feminine suffixes of a foreign origin, such as 
ine, a, and trix. 

(i) ine is a Greek ending, and is found in heroine. A similar ending in 
landgravine and margravine, the feminines of landgrave (a German 
count) and margrave (a lord of the Mark or of marches), is German. 

(ii) a is an Italian or Spanish ending, and is found in donna (the 
feminine of Don, a gentleman), infanta (= the child, the heiress to the 
crown of Spain), sultana, and signora (the feminine of Signor, the 
Italian for Senior, elder). 

(iii) trix is a purely Latin ending, and is found only in those words 
that have come to us directly from Latin ; as testator, testatrix (a person 
who has made a will), executor, executrix (a person who carries out the 
directions of a will). 



II. Gender indicated by Prefixes (or by Composition). 

13. The distinction between the masculine and the feminine 
gender is indicated by using such words as man, maid — bull, 
cow — he, she — cock, hen, as prefixes to the nouns men- 
tioned. In the oldest English, carl and cwen ( = queen) were 
employed to mark gender ; and carl-fugol is = cock-fowl, cwen' 
fugol = hen-f owl 



14 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



14. The following are the most important words of this 
kind : — 



Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Man-servant 


Maid-servant. 


Bull-calf 


Cow-calf. 


Man 


Woman ( — wife-man) , 


Cock-sparrow 


Hen-sparrrow. 


He -goat 


She -goat. 


Wether-lamb 


Ewe-lamb. 


He-ass 


She-ass. 


Pea-cock 


Pea-hen. 


Jack-ass 


Jenny-ass. 


Turkey-cock 


Turkey-hen. 


Jackdaw 









(i) In the time of Shakespeare, he and she were used as nouns. We 
find such phrases as " The proudest he," " The fairest she," " That not 
impossible she." 



III. Gender indicated by Different Words. 

15. The use of different words for the masculine and the fem- 
inine does not really belong to grammatical gender. It may be 
well, however, to note some of the most important : — 

Masculine. Feminine. 

Bachelor Spinster. 

Boy Girl. 

Brother Sister. 

Foal Filly. 

Drake Duck. 

Drone Bee. 

Earl Countess. 

Father Mother. 

Gander Goose. 
Hart ' Hind. 

Horse Mare. 

(i) Bachelor, from Low Latin baccalarius, a holder or tenant of a 
small farm. 

(ii) Girl, Low German gbr, a child. 

(iii) Filly, the. dim. of foal. (When a syllable is added, the previous 
vowel is often modified : as in cat, kitten; cock, chicken ; cook, kitchen.) 

(iv) Drake, formerly endrake; end = duck, and rake — king. The 
word therefore means king of the ducks. (The word rake appears in 
another form in the ric of bishopric = the ric or kingdom or domain 
of a bishop.) 

(v) Earl, from A.S. eorl, a warrior. Countess comes from the French 
word comtesse. 



Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Husband 


Wife. 


King 


Queen. 


Lord 


Lady. 


Monk 


Nun. 


Nephew 


Niece. 


Ram (or Wether 


\ Ewe. 


Sir 


Madam. 


Sloven 


Slut. 


Son 


Daughter 


Uncle 


Aunt. 


Wizard 


Witch. 



GENDER. 15 

(vi) Father = feeder ; cognate of fat, food, feed, fodder, foster, etc. 

(vii) Goose; in the oldest A.S. gons ; Gandr-a (the a being the sign 
of the masc). Hence gander, the d being inserted as a cushion be- 
tween n and r, as in thunder, gender, etc. 

(viii) Hart = the horned one. 

(ix) Mare, the fern, of A.S. mearh, a horse. Hence also marshal, 
which at first meant horse-servant. 

(x) Husband, from Icelandic, husbuandi, the master of the house. A 
farmer in Norway is called a bonder. 

(xi) King, a contraction of A.S. cyning, son of the kin or tribe. 

(xii) Lord, a contraction of A.S. hlaford — from hlaf, a loaf, and 
weard, a ward or keeper. 

(xiii) Lady, a contraction of A. S. hlaefdige, a loaf -kneader. 

(xiv) The old A.S. words were nefa, nefe. 

(xv) Woman = wife -man. The pronunciation of women (wimmen) 
comes nearer to the old form of the word. See note on (iii.) 

(xvi) Sir, from French sire (Lat. senior, elder). 

(xvii) Madam, from Lat. Mea domina (through the French Ma dame) 
= my lady. 

(xviii) Daughter, probably means milker. Connected with dug. 

(xix) Wizard, from old French guiscart, prudent. Witch has no con- 
nection with wizard. 

16. All feminine nouns are formed from the masculine, with 
four exceptions : bridegroom, widower, gander, and drake, 
which come respectively from bride, widow, goose, and duck. 

•(i) Bridegroom was in A.S. brydguma = the bride's man. (Guma is a 
cognate of the Lat. hom-o, a man — whence humanity.) 

(ii) Widower. The old masc. was widuwa ; the fern, widuwe. It was 
then forgotten that widuwa was a masculine, and a new masculine had 
to be formed from widuwe. 



Number. 

17. Number is, in nouns, the mode of indicating whether we 
are speaking of one thing or of more. 

18. The English language, like most modern languages, has 
two numbers : the singular and the plural. 



Boxes. 


Beef 


Beeves. 


Gases. 


Loaf 


Loaves. 


Witches. 


Shelf 


Shelves. 


Heroes. 


Staff 


Staves. 


Ladies. 


Thief 


Thieves. 



16 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(i) Singular comes from the Lat. singuli, one by one ; plural, from 
the Lat. plures, more (than one). 

(ii) Mr Barnes, the eminent Dorsetshire poet, who has written an 
excellent grammar, called ' Speech-craft,' calls them onely and somely. 

19. There are three chief ways of forming the plural in 
English : — ■ 

(i) By adding es or s to the singular, 
(ii) By adding en. 
(iii) By changing the vowel-sound. 

20. First Mode. — The plural is formed by adding es or s 
The ending es is a modern form of the old A.S. plural in as, ai_ 
stances, stones. The following are examples : — 

Singular. Plural. ; Singular. Plural. 

Box 

Gas 

Witch 

Hero 

Lady 

(i) It will be seen that es in heroes does not add a syllable to the sing. 

(ii) Nouns ending in f change the sharp f into a flat v, as in beeves, 
etc. But we say roofs, cliffs, dwarfs, chiefs, etc. 

(iii) An old singular of lady was ladie ; and this spelling is preserved 
in the plural. But there has arisen a rule on this point in modern 
English, which may be thus stated : — 

S^ (a) Y, with a vowel before it, is not changed in the plural. 
Thus we write keys, valleys, chimneys, days, etc. 

(6) Y, with a consonant before it, is changed into ie when s is 
added for the plural. Thus we write ladies, rubies, and also solilo- 
quies. 

(iv) Beef is not now used as the word for a single ox. Shakespeare 
has the phrase " beef-witted "=with no more sense than an ox. 

21. Second Mode. — The plural is formed by adding en or 
ne. Thus we have oxen, children, brethren, and kine. 

(i) Children is a double plural. The oldest plural was cild-r-u, which 
became childer. It was forgotten that this was a proper plural, and en 
was added. Brethren is also a double- plural. En was added to the old 
Northern plural brether — the oldest plural being brothr-u. 

(ii) Kine is also a double plural of cow. The oldest plural was cy, 
and this still exists in Scotland in the form of kye. Then ne was 
added. 



XUMREK. 



17 



22. Third Mode. — The plural is formed by changing the 
vowel-sound of the word. The following are examples : — 



Singular. 


Plural. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Man 


Men. 


Tooth 


Teeth. 


Foot 


Feet. 


Mouse 


Mice. 


Goose 


Geese. 


Louse 


Lice. 



(i) To understand this, we must observe that when a new syllable is 
added to a word, the vowel of the preceding syllable is often weakened. 
Thus we find nation, national; fox, vixen. ISTow the oldest plurals of 
the above words had an additional syllable ; and it is to this that the 
change in the vowel is due. 

23. There are in English several nouns with two plural 
forms, with different meanings. The following is a list : — 



Singular. Plural. 

Brother brothers (by blood) 

Cloth cloths (kinds of cloth) 

Die dies (stamps for coining) 

Fish fishes (looked at separately) 

Genius geniuses (men of talent) 

Index indexes (to books) 

Pea peas (taken separately) 

Penny pennies (taken separately) 

Shot shots (separate discharges) 



Plural. 
brethren (of a community), 
clothes (garments). 
dice (cubes for gaming), 
fish (taken collectively), 
genii (powerful spirits). 
indices (to quantities in algebra), 
pease (taken collectively), 
pence (taken collectively), 
shot (balls, collectively) 



(i) Pea is a false singular. The s belongs to the root ; and we find in 
Middle English "as big as a pease," and the plurals pesen and peses. 

24. Some nouns have the same form in the plural as in the 
singular. Such are deer, slnep, cod, trout, mackerel, and 

others. 

(i) Most of these nouns were, in Old English, neuter. 

(ii) A special plural is found in such phrases as : A troop of horse ; 
a company of foot ; ten sail of the line ; three brace of birds ; six gross of 
steel pens ; ten stone weight, etc. In fact, the names of numbers, 
weights, measures, etc., are not put into the plural form. Thus we say, 
ten hundredweight, five score, five fathom, six brace. In Old English we 
also said forty year, sixty winter ; and we still say, a twelvemonth, a fort- 
night (= fourteen nights). 

25. There are in English several false plurals — that is, real 
singulars which look like plurals. These are alms, riches, and 
eaves. 

V. 



Amends. 


Odds. 


Gallows. 


Pains. 


News. 


Shambles 



18 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(i) Alms is a compressed form of the A.S. aelmesse (which is from the 
Greek eleemosune). We find in Acts iii. 3, "an alms." The adjective 
connected with it is eleemosynary. 

(ii) Riches comes from the French richesse. 

(iii) Eaves is the modern form of the A.S. efese, a margin or edge. 

26. There are in English several plural forms that are re- 
garded and treated as singulars. The following is a list: — 

Smallpox. 

Thanks. 

Tidings. 

(i) Smallpox = small pocks. 

27. There are many nouns that, from the nature of the case, 
can be used only in the plural. These are the names ol 
things (ct) That consist of two or more parts ; or (b) That are 
taken in the mass. 

(a) The following is a, list of the first : — 

Bellows. Pincers. Shears. Tweezers. 

Drawers. Pliers. Snuffers. Tongs. 

Lungs. Scissors. Spectacles. Trousers. 

(b) The following is a list of the second : — 

Annals. Dregs. Lees. Oats. 

Archives. Embers. Measles. Staggers. 

Ashes. Entrails. Molasses. Stocks. 

Assets. Hustings. Mumps. Victuals. 

JS® 3 " It must be noticed that several nouns — some of them in the 
above class — change their meaning entirely when made plural. Thus — 



Singular. Plural. 



Beef 


Beeves. 


Iron 


Irons. 


Copper 


Coppers. 


Pain 


Pains. 


Good 


Goods. 


Spectacle 


Spectacles. 



Singular. Plural. 



28. The English language has adopted many foreign plurals. 
These, (a) when fully naturalised, make their plurals in the 
usual English way ; (b) when not naturalised, or imperfectly, 
keep their own proper plurals. 

(a) As examples of the first kind, we have — 

Bandits, cherubs, dogmas, indexes, memorandums, focuses, formulas, 
terminuses, etc. 



CASE. 



19 



(b) As 


examples of the second, 


we find — 




(1) Latin 


Singular. 
Animalculum 
Datum 
Formula 
Genus 


Plural 
Animalcula. 
Data. 
Formulae. 
Genera. 


Singular. 
Radix 
Series 
Species 
Stratum 


Plural. 
Radices. 
Series. 
Species. 
Strata. 


(2) Greek 


Analysis 

Axis 

Miasma 


Analyses. 

Axes. 

Miasmata. 


Ellipsis 

Parenthesis 

Phenomenon 


Ellipses. 

Parentheses 

Phenomena. 


(3) French 


Monsieur 


Messieurs. 


Madam 


Mesdames. 


(4) Italian 


Bandit 
Dilettante 


Banditti. 
Dilettanti. 


Libretto 
Virtuoso 


Libretti. 
Virtuosi. 


(5) Hebrew 


Cherub 


Cherubim. 


Seraph 


Seraphim. 



(i) The Greek plurals acoustics, ethics, mathematics, optics, politics, etc., 
were originally adjectives. We now say logic — but logics, which still 
survives in the Irish Universities — was the older word. 

29. Compounds attach the sign of the plnral to the leading 
word, especially if that word be a noun. These may be divided 
into three classes : — ■ 

(a) When the plural sign is added to the Noun, as : sons-in-law, 
hangers-on, lookers-on, etc. 

(6) When the compound word is treated as one word, as : attorney- 
generals, major-generals, court-martials, spoonfuls, handfuls, etc. 

(c) When both parts of the compound take the plural sign, as : men- 
servants, knights-templars, lords-justices, etc. 



Case. 

30. Case is the form given to a noun to show its relation to 
other words in the sentence. Our language has lost most of 
these forms; but we still use the word case to indicate the 
function, even when the form has been lost. 



(i) The word case is from the Latin 
casus, and means a falling. The old gram- 
marians regarded the nominative as the 
upright case, and all others as fallings 
from that. Hence the use of the words 
decline and declension. (Of course the 
nominative cannot be a real case, because 
it is upright and not & falling.) 




20 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

31. We now employ five cases ; Nominative, Possessive. 
Dative, Objective, and Vocative. 

(i) In Nouns, only one of these is inflected, or has a case-ending — the 



(ii) In Pronouns, the Possessive, Dative, and Objective are inflected. 
But the inflexion for the Dative and the Objective is the same. Him 
and them are indeed true Datives : the old inflection for the Objective 
was nine and hi. 

32. The following are the definitions of these cases : — 

(1) The Nominative Case is the case of the subject. 

(2) The Possessive Case indicates possession, or some sim- 
ilar relation. 

(3) The Dative Case is the case of the Indirect Object, 
and also the case following certain verbs. 

(4) The Objective Case is the case of the Direct Object. 

(5) The Vocative Case is the case of the person spoken 
to. It is often called the Nominative of Address. 

(i) Nominative comes from the Lat. nominare, to name. From the 
same root we have nominee. 

(ii) Dative comes from the Lat dativus, given to. 

(iii) Vocative comes from the Lat. vocativus, spoken to or addressed. 

33. The Nominative Case answers to the question Who ? or 
"What? It has always a verb that goes with it, and asserts 
something about it. 

34. The Possessive Case has the ending 's in the singular ; 
=s in the plural, when the plural of the noun ends in n ; and • 
only when the plural ends in s. 

||!p~ The possessive case is kept chiefly for nouns that are 
the names of living beings. We cannot say "the book's 
page " or " the box's lid," though in poetry we can say " the 
temple's roof," etc. There are many points that require to be 
specially noted about the possessive : — 

(i) The apostrophe (from Gr. apo, away, and strophe, a turning) stands 
in the place of a lost e, the possessive in O.E. having been in many 
cases es. In the last century the printers always put hop'd, waWd, 
etc., for hoped, walked, etc. The use of the apostrophe is quite modern. 



CASE. 21 

(ii) If the singular noun ends in s, ve often, but not always, write 
Moses' rod, for conscience' sake, Phoebus' fire; and yet we> say, and ought 
to gay, Jones's books, WUhins's hat, St James's, Chambers's Journal, etc. 

(iii) We find in the Prayer-Book, " For Jesus Christ his sake." This 
arose from the fact that the old possessive in es was sometimes written 
is; and hence the corruption into his. Then it came to be fancied that 
's was a short form of his. But this is absurd, for two reasons : — 

(a) "We cannot say that " the girl's book " is = the girl his book. 

(b) We cannot say that " the men's tools " is = the men his tools. 

35. How shall we account for the contradictory forms Lord's- 
day and Lady-day, Thurs-day and Fri-day, Wedn-es-day and 
Mon-day, and for the curious possessive in Witenagemot ? 

(i) Lady-day and Friday are fragments of the possessive of feminine 
Nouns in O.E. An old feminine possessive ended in an, which was then 
shortened into ladye, lastly into lady. So with Frija, the goddess of 
love ; and with Moon, which was masculine. Thus we see that in 
Lady-day, Friday, and Monday we have old possessives. The word 
witenagemot means the meet or meeting of the witan, or wise men, 
the possessive of which was witena. 

36. The Dative Case answers to the question For whom t 
or To whom ? It has no separate form for Nouns ; and in 
Pronouns, its form is the same as that of the Objective. But 
it has a very clear and distinct function in modern English. 
This function is seen in such sentences as — 

(1) He handed the lady a chair. 

(2) Make me a boat ! 

(3) AVoe Avorth the day ! ( = Woe be to the day !) 

(4) Heaven send the Prince a better companion ! 

(5) Heaven send the companion a better Prince ! 

(6) " Sirrah, knock me at this gate, 
Rap me here, knock me well, and knock me soundly." 

(Shakespeare, "Taming of the Shrew," I. ii. 31.) 

(7) Methought I heard a cry ! 

(8) Hand me the salt, if you please. 

Some grammarians prefer to call this the Case of the Indirect 
Object; but the term will hardly apply to day and me in (3) 
and (7). In all the other sentences, the dative may be changed 
into an objective with the prep, to or for. 



22 GKAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(i) In the sixth sentence, the me's are sometimes called Ethical 
Datives. ■ 

(ii) In the seventh sentence, methought is = it seemed to me. There 
were in O.E. two verbs — thyncan, to seem ; and thencan, to think. 

(iii) In the eighth sentence the phrase if you please is = if it please 
you, and the you is originally a dative. 

37. The Objective Case is always governed "by an active- 
transitive verb or a preposition. It answers to the question 
Whom ? or "What ? It is generally placed after the verb. Its 
form is different from that of the Nominative in pronouns ; 
but is the same in nouns. 

(i) The direct object is sometimes called the reflexive object when 

the nominative and the objective refer to the same person — as, " / hurt 
myself ; " " Turn (thou) thee, Lord ! " etc. 

(ii) When the direct object is akin with the verb in meaning, it is 
sometimes called the cognate object. The cognate object is found in 
such phrases as : To die the death ; to run a race ; to fight a fight, etc. 

(iii) A second direct object after such verbs as make, create, appoint, 
think, suffer, etc., is often called the factitive object. For example : 
The Queen made him a general ; the Board appointed him manager ; we 
thought him a good man, etc. 

Factitivt comes from the Latin facSre, to make. 

38. The difference between the -Nominative and the Vocative 
cases is this : The Nominative case must always have a verb 
with it ; the Vocative cannot have a verb. This is plain from 
the sentences : — 

(i) John did that, 
(ii) Don't do that, John ! 

39. Two nouns that indicate the same person or thing are 
said to be in apposition ; and two nouns in apposition may be 
in any case. 

(i) But, though the two nouns are in the same case, only one of 
them has the sign or inflection of the case. Thus we say, " John the 
gardener's mother is dead." Now, both John and gardener are in the 
possessive case; and yet it is only gardener that takes the sign of 
the possessive. 



r'KONOUNS. 



PRONOUNS. 

1. A Pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun. 

We say, " John went away yesterday ; he looked quite happy." 
In this case the pronoun he stands in the place of John. 

(i) The word pronoun comes from the Latin pro, for ; and nomen, 
a name. 

(ii) The above definition hardly applies to the pronoun /. If we say 
I write, the / cannot have John Smith substituted for it. We cannot 
say John Smith write. I, in fact, is the universal pronoun for the 
person speaking ; and it cannot be said to stand in place of his mere 
name. The same remark applies to some extent to thou and you. 

2. The pronouns are among the oldest parts of speech, and 
have, therefore, been subject to many changes. In spite of 
these changes, they have kept many of their inflexions ; while 
our English adjective has parted with all, and our noun with 
most. 

3. There are four kinds of pronouns : Personal ; Inter- 
rogative ; Relative ; and Indefinite. The following is a 
table, with examples of each : — 

PRONOUNS. 1 

I 

i I I I 

Personal Interrogative. Relative. Indefinite 

I. Who? Who. One. 



PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 

4. There are three Personal Pronouns : The Personal Pro- 
noun of the First Person ; of the Second Person ; and of the 
Third Person. 

5. The First Personal Pronoun indicates the person speak- 
ing; the Second Personal Pronoun, the person spoken to; 
and the Third, the person spoken of. 

6. The First Personal Pronoun has, of course, no distinc- 
tion of gender. It is made up of the following forms, which 
are fragments of different words : — 

1 Demonstratives are treated under Adjectives. 



24 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 





Singular. 


Plural. 


Nominative 


I 


We. 


Possessive 


Mine (or My) 


Our (or Ours). 


Dative 


Me 


Us. 


Objective 


Me 


Us. 



(i) We is not = I + 1 ; because there can be only one / in all the world. 
We is really = I + he, I + you, or I + they. 

(ii) / can have no vocative as such. If you address yourself, you 
must say Thou or You. 

(iii) The dative is preserved in such words and phrases as " Me 
thinks" ("it seems tome" — where the think comes from thincan, to 
seem, and not from thencan, to think) ; " Woe is me ; " " Give me the 
plate ; " " If you please," etc. 



7. The Second 


Personal Pronoun 


has no distinction 


gender. It has the following forms :- 


— 




Singular. 


Plural. 


Nominative 


Thou 


You (or Ye). 


Possessive 


Thine {or Thy) 


Your (or Yours). 


Dative 


Thee 


You. 


Objective 


Thee 


You. 


Vocative 


Thou 


You (or Ye). 



(i) Ye was the old nominative plural ; you was always dative or 
objective. " Ye have not chosen me ; but I have chosen you." 

(ii) Thou was, from the 14th to the 17th century, the pronoun of 
affection, of familiarity, of superiority, and of contempt. This is still 
the usage in France of tu and toi. Hence the verb tutoyer. 

(iii) My, Thy, Our, Your are used along with nouns ; Mine, Thine, 
Ours, and Yours cannot go with nouns, and they are always used alone. 
Mine and Thine, however, are used in Poetry and in the English Bible 
with nouns which begin with a vowel or silent h. 

8. The Third Personal Pronoun requires distinctions of 
gender, because it is necessary to indicate the sex of the person 
we are talking of : and it has them. 







Singular. 




Plural. 




Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Neuter. 


All Genders. 


Nom. 


He 


She 


It 


They. 


Poss. 


His 


Her (or Hers) 


Its 


Their (or Theirs). 


Dat. 


Him 


Her 


It 


Them. 


Obj. 


Him 


Her 


It 


Them. 



INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. 25 

(i) She is really the feminine of the old demonstrative se, sco, thaet ; 
and it has supplanted the old A.S. pronoun heo, which still exists in 
Lancashire in the form of hoo. 

(ii) The old and proper dative of it is him. The old neuter of lie was 
hit ; the t being the inflection for the neuter. 

(iii) Him, the dative, came to be also used as the objective. The 
oldest objective was nine. 

9. The Personal Pronouns are often used as Reflexive 
Pronouns. Reflexive Pronouns are (i) datives ; or (ii) objec- 
tives ; or (iii) compounds of self with the personal pronoun. 
For example : — 

(i) Dative : "I press me none but good householders," said by Fal- 
staff, in "King Henry IV.," I. iv. 2, 16. He sat him down. 
"I made me no more ado," I. ii. 4, 223. 
" Let every soldier hew him down a bough." — Macbeth, V. iv. 6. 

(ii) Objective: Shakespeare has such phrases as/ tohipt me; I disrobed 
me ; I have learned me 

(iii) Compounds : / bethought myself ; He wronged himself ; etc. 



INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. 

10. The Interrogative Pronouns are those pronouns which 
we use in asking questions. They are who, which, what, and 
whether. 

(i) The word interrogative comes from the Latin interrogare, to ask. 
Hence also interrogation, interrogatory, etc. 

11. Who is both masculine and feminine, and is used only of 
persons. Its neuter is what. (The t in what, as in that, is 
the old suffix for the neuter gender.) The possessive is whose ; 
the objective whom. The following are the forms : — 

Singular and Plural. 





Masculine. 


Feminine. 


Neuter. 


Nominative 


Who 


Who 


What. 


Possessive 


Whose 


Whose 


[Whose.] 


Objective 


Whom 


Whom 


What. 



26 GEAMMAE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(i) Who-m is really a dative, like hi-m. But we now use it only as an 
objective. 

(ii) Whose may be used of neuters; but it is almost invariably em- 
ployed of persons only. 

12. Which — formerly hwilc — is a compound word, made up 
of hwi, the instr. case of the Old English hwa, who, and 
lie = like. It therefore really means, Of what sort? It now 
asks for one out of a number ; as, " Here are several kinds of 
fruits : which will you have 1 " 

13. Whether is also a compound word, made up of who + 
ther ; and it means, Which of the two ? 

(i) The ther in whether is the same as the ther in neither, etc. 

RELATIVE OR CONJUNCTIVE PRONOUNS. 

14. A Relative Pronoun is a pronoun which possesses two 
functions : (i) it stands for a noun ; and (ii) it joins two sen- 
tences together. That is to say, it is both a pronoun and a con- 
junction. For example, we say, " This is the man whose apples 
we bought." This statement is made up of two sentences : (i) 
"This is the man;" and (ii) "We bought his apples." The 
relative pronoun whose joins together the two sentences. 

(i) Relative Pronouns might also be called conjunctive pronouns. 

(ii) Whose, in the above sentence, is called relative, because it relatea 
to the word man. Man, is called its antecedent, or goer -before. 

The word antecedent comes from the Lat. ante, before ; and cedo, I go. 

15. The Relative Pronouns are that; who, which; what. 

As and but are also employed as relatives. 

(i) Who, which, and what are also combined with so and ever, and 
form Compound Relatives ; such as whoso, whosoever, whatsoever, 
and whichsoever. 

(ii) That is the oldest of our relative pronouns. It is really the neuter 
of the old demonstrative adj., se, seo, thaet. It differs from who in two 
respects : (a) It cannot be used after a preposition. We cannot say, 
"This is the man with that I went." (6) It is generally employed to 
limit, distinguish, and define. Thus we say, " The house that I built is 
for sale." Here the sentence that I built is an adjective, limiting or de- 
fining the noun house. Hence it has been called the defining relative, 



INDEFINITE PKONOUNS. 2? 

Who or which introduces a new fact about the antecedent ; that only 
marks it off from other nouns. 

(iii) Who has whose and whom in the possessive and objective — both 
in the singular and in the plural. 

(iv) Which is not to be regarded as the neuter of who. It is the form 
used when the antecedent is the name of an animal or thing. After a 
preposition, it is sometimes replaced by where ; as wherein = in which ; 
whereto — to which. 

(v) What performs the function of a compound relative = that + which. 
If we examine its function in different sentences, we shall find that it 
may be equivalent to — 

(a) Two Nominatives ; as in 'This is what he is" ( = the person that). 

(6) Two Objectives ; as in " He has what he asked for " ( = the thing that). 

(c) Nom. and Obj. ; as in " This is what he asked for " (= the thing that). 

(d) Obj. and Nom.; as in " I know what he is " ( = the person that). 

(vi) As is the proper relative after the adjectives such and same. 
"This is the same as I had" is = " This is the same as that which 
I had." 

(vii) But is the proper relative after a negative ; as " There was no 
man but would have died for her." Here hut = who + not. (This is 
like the Latin use of quin = qui + non). 



INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. 

16. An Indefinite Pronoun is a pronoun that does not stand 
La the place of a noun which is the name for a definite person 
or thing, but is used vaguely, and without a distinct reference. 

17. The chief Indefinite Pronouns are one, none ; any ; 
other ; and some. 

(i) One is the best instance of an indefinite pronoun. It is simply the 
cardinal one used as a pronoun. In O.E. we used man ; and we still find 
one example in the Bible — Zech. xiii. 5 : " Man taught me to keep cattle 
from my youth." One, as an indefinite pronoun, has two peculiarities. 
It (a) can be put in the possessive case ; and (6) can take a plural 
form. Thus we can say : (a) " One can do what one likes with one's own ;" 
and (b) " I want some big ones." 

(ii) None is the negative of one. " None think the great unhappy 
but the great." But none is generally plural. No (the adjective) is a 
short form of none ; as a is of an ; and my of mine. 

(iii) Any is derived from an, a form of one. It may be used as an 
adjective also — either with a singular or a plural noun. When used as a 
pronoun, it is generally plural. 



28 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(iv) Other is = an ther. The ther is the same as that in either, 
whether; and it always indicates that one of two is taken into the 
mind. 

(v) Some is either singular or plural. It is singular in the phrase 
Some one ; in all other instances, it is a plural pronoun. 



ADJECTIVES. 

1. An Adjective is a word that goes -with a noun to describe 
or point out the thing denoted by the noun — and hence to limit 
the application of the noun ; or, more simply, — 

Adjectives are noun-marking words. 

(i) Adjectives do not assert explicitly, like verbs. They assert im- 
plicitly. Hence they are implicit predicates. Thus, if I say, " I met 
three old men," I make three statements : (1) I met men ; (2) The men 
were old ; (3) The men were three in number. But these statements 
are not explicitly made. 

(ii) Adjectives enlarge the content, but limit the extent of the idea 
expressed by the noun. Thus when we say u white horses," we put a 
larger content into the idea of horse ; but, as there are fewer white 
horses than horses, we limit the extent of the notion. 

2. An adjective cannot stand, by itself. It must have with 
jt a noun either expressed or understood. In the sentence 
"The good are happy," persons is understood after good. 

3. Adjectives are of four kinds. They are (i) Adjectives of 
Quality ; (ii) Adjectives of Quantity ; (iii) Adjectives of 
Number ; (iv) Demonstrative Adjectives. Or we may say, — 
Adjectives are divided into 

ADJECTIVES 

! 

I I I I 

Qualitative. Quantitative. Numbering. Demonstrative. 

These four answer, respectively, to the questions — 
(i) Of what sort? (ii) How much? (iii) How many? (iv) Which? 

4. Qualitative Adjectives denote a quality of the subject or 
thing named by the noun ; such as blue, white ; happy, sad ; 
big, little. 

(i) The word qualitative comes from the Lat. qualis= of what sort, 
(ii) Most of these adjectives admit of degrees of comparison. 



ADJECTIVES. 29 

5. Quantitative Adjectives denote either quantity or in- 
definite number ; and they can go either (i) with the singular, 
or (ii) with the plural of nouns, or (iii) with both. The follow- 
ing is a list : — 

Any. Certain. Few. Much. Some. 

All. Divers. Little. No. Whole. 

Both. Enough. Many. Several. 

(i) We find the phrases : Little need ; little wool ; much pleasure ; more 
sense ; some sleep, etc. 

(ii) We find the phrases: All men; any persons; both boys; several 
pounds, etc. 

(iii) We find the phrases : Any man and any men; no man and w# 
men; enough corn and soldiers enough; some boy and some boys, etc. 

6. Numbering or Numeral Adjectives express the number of 

the things or persons indicated by the noun. They are generally 
divided into Cardinal Numerals and Ordinal Numerals. 
But Ordinal Numerals are in reality Demonstrative Adjectives. 

(i) Numeral comes from the Lat. numerus, a number. Hence also 
come numerous, numerical, and number (the 6 serves as a cushion between 
the m and the r). 

(ii) Cardinal comes from the Lat. cardo, a hinge. 

(iii) Ordinal comes from the Lat. ordo, order. 

7. Demonstrative Adjectives are those which are used to 
point out the thing expressed by the noun; and, besides. indi- 
cating a person or thing, they also indicate a relation either to 
the speaker or to something else. 

(i) Demonstrative comes from the Lat. demonstro, I point out. From the same 
root come monster, monstrous, &c. 

8. Demonstrative Adjectives are of three kinds : (i) Articles ; 
(ii) Adjective Pronouns (often so called) ; and (iii) the Ordinal 
Numerals. 

(i) There are two articles (better call them distinguishing adjectives) 
in our language : a and the. a is a broken-down form of ane, the 
northern form of one ; and before a vowel or silent h it retains the n. 
In some phrases a has its old sense of one; as in "two of a trade ; " "all 
of a size," etc. 

"An two men ride on a horse, one must ride behind." 

Shakespeare (Much Ado about Nothing, III. v. 40 ) . 



30 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) We must be careful to distinguish the article a from the broken- 
down preposition a in the phrase "twice a week." This latter a is a 
fragment of on; and the phrase in O.E. was "tuwa on wucan." Simi- 
larly, the in " the book " is not the same as the in " the more the merrier.'' 
The latter is an old case (instrumental) of thaet ; and is = by that. 

(iii) Adjective Pronouns or Pronominal Adjectives are so called be- 
cause they can be used either as adjectives with the noun, or as 
pronouns for the noun. They are divided into the following four 



(a) Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns — This, these ; that, those ; 
yon, yonder. 

(&) Interrogative Adjective Pronouns — Which ? what ? whether (of 
the two) ? 

(c) Distributive Adjective Pronouns — Each, every, either, neither. 

(d) Possessive Adjective Pronouns — My, thy, his, her, etc. (These 
words perform a double function. They are adjectives, because they 
go with a noun ; and pronouns, because they stand for the noun or 
name of the person speaking or spoken of.) 

(iv) The Ordinal Numerals are : First, second, third, etc. 

9. Some adjectives are used as nouns, and therefore take a 
plural form. Thus we have Romans, Christians, superiors, 
elders, ones, others, nobles, etc. Some take the form of the 
possessive case, as either's, neither } s. 

(i) The plural of one as an adjective is two, three, etc. ; of one as a 
noun, ones. Thus we can say, " These are poor strawberries, bring me 
better ones." Other numeral adjectives may be used as nouns. Thus 
Wordsworth, in one of his shorter poems, has — 

"The sun has long been set ; 

The stars are out by twos and throes ; 
The little birds are piping yet 
Among the bushes and trees." 

(ii) Our language is very whimsical in this matter. We can say 
Romans and Italians ; but we cannot say Frenches and Dutches. Milton 
has (Paradise Lost, iii. 438) Chineses. 



NUMERALS. 

10. Cardinal Numerals are those which indicate numbers 
alone. Some of them are originally nouns, as dozen, hun- 
dred, thousand, and million; but these may also be used as 
adjectives, 



NUMERALS. 31 

(i) One was in A.S. an or ane. The pronunciation wun is from a west- 
ern dialect. It is still rightly sounded in its compounds atone, alone, 
lonely. None and no are the negatives of one and o ( = an and a). 

(ii) Two, from A.S. twegen mas. ; twa fern. The form twegen appears 
in twain and twin, the g having been absorbed. 

(iii) Eleven = en (one) + lif (ten). Twelve = twe (two) + lif (ten). 
(iv) Thirteen = three + ten. The ?' has shifted its place, as in third. 

(v) Twenty =twen (two) + tig (ten). Tig is a noun, meaning "a set 
of ten." The guttural was lost, and it became ty. 

(vi) Score, from A.S. sceran, to cut. Accounts of sheep, cattle, etc., 
were kept by notches on a stick ; and the twentieth notch was made 
deeper, and was called the cut — the score. 

11. Ordinal Numerals are Adjectives of Relation formed 
mostly from the Cardinals. They are : First, Second, Third, 
Fourth, etc. 

(i) First is the superlative of fore, with vowel-change. 

(ii) Second is not Eng. but Latin. The O.E. for second was other. 
Second comes (through French) from the Latin, secundus, following — 
that is, following the first. A following or favourable breeze (" a wind 
that follows fast") was called by the Romans a "secundus ventus." 
Secundus comes from Lat. sequor, I follow. Other words from the 
same root are sequel, consequence, etc. 

(iii) Third, by transposition, from A.S. thridda. A third part was 
called a thriding (where the r keeps its right place) ; as a fourth part 
was a fourthing or farthing. Thriding was gradually changed into Hiding, 
one of the three parts into which Yorkshire was divided. 

(iv) In eigh-th, as in eigh-teen, a t has vanished. 



THE INFLEXION OF ADJECTIVES. 

12. The modern English adjective has lost all its old inflexions 
for gender and case, and retains only two for number. These 
two are these (the plural of this) and those (the plural of that). 

(i) The older plural was thise — pronounced these, and then so spelled. 
In this instance, the spelling, as so seldom happens, has followed the 
pronunciation. In general in the English language, the spelling and the 
pronunciation keep quite apart, and have no influence on each other. 

(ii) Those was the oldest plural of this, but in the 14th century it 
came to be accented as the plural of that. 



32 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

13. Most adjectives are now inflected for purposes of com- 
parison only. 

14. There are three Degrees of Comparison : the Posi- 
tive ; the Comparative ; and the Superlative. 

(i) The word degree comes from the French degre, which itself comes 
from the Latin gradus, a step. From the same root come grade, grad- 
ual, degrade, etc. 

15. The Positive Degree is the simple form of the adjec- 
tive. 

16. The Comparative Degree is that form of the adjective 
which shows that the quality it expresses has been raised one 
step or degree higher. Thus we say sharp, sharper; cold, 
colder; brave, braver. The comparative degree brings together 
only two ideas. Thus we may speak of " the taller of the two," 
but not " of the three." 

Comparative comes from the Lat. compdro, I bring together. 

17. The Comparative degree is formed in two ways : either 
(i) by adding er to the positive ; or (ii) if the adjective has two 
syllables (the last ending in a consonant) or more, by placing 
the adverb more before the adjective. 

Rules : I. A silent e is dropped ; as brave, braver. 

II. A y after a consonant is changed into i before er, etc. ; as happy, 
happier. 

III. A final consonant after a short vowel is doubled ; as red, 
redder ; cruel, crueller. 

IV. In choosing between er and more, sound and custom seem to 
be the safest guides. Thus we should not say selecter, but more select ; 
not infirmer, but more infirm. Carlyle has beautifullest, etc. ; but his is 
not an example to be followed. 

18. The Superlative Degree is that form of the adjective 
which shows that the quality it expresses has been raised to the 
highest degree. The superlative degree requires that three 
things, or more, be compared. Thus " He is the tallest of the 
two " would be incorrect. 

Superlative comes from the T,at. superlafivus, lifting up above. 



ADJECTIVES. 



33 



19. The Superlative degree is formed in two ways : either (i) 
by adding est to the positive ; or (ii) if the adjective has two 
syllables (the last ending in a consonant) or more, by placing 
the adverb most before the adjective. 

(i) Happiest ; most recent ; most beautiful. 

20. Some adjectiyes, from the very nature of the ideas they 
express, do not admit of comparison. Such are golden, wooden; 
left, right; square, triangular ; weekly, monthly ; eternal, per- 
petual, etc. 

21. The most frequently used adjectives have irregular 
comparisons. The following is a list : — 



Pos- 


Com- 


Super- 


Pos- 


Com- 


Super- 


itive. 


parative. 


lative. 


itive. 


parative. 


lative. 


Bad 


worse 


worst. 


Late 


later 


latest. 


Evil 


worse 


worst. 


Late 


latter 


last. 


111 


worse 


worst. 


Little 


less 


least 


Far 


farther 


farthest. 


Many 


more 


most. 


[Forth] 


further 


furthest. 


Much 


more 


most. 


Fore 


former 


foremost. 


Nigh 


nigher 


nighest (next). 


Good 


better 


best. 


Old 


older 


oldest. 


Hind 


hinder 


hindmost. 


Old 


elder 


eldest. 




[Rathe] rat 


tier 


[rathest.] 





(i) Worse and worst come, not from lad, but from A.S. wyrsa. The 
s in worse is a part of the root ; and the full comparative is really xoorser, 
which was used in the 16th century (Shakespeare, " Hamlet," III. iv. 
157). Worst — worsest. 

(ii) The th in farther is intrusive. Farther is formed on a false anal- 
ogy with further ; as could (from can) is with would (from tvill). Far- 
ther is used of progression in space ; further, of progression in reasoning. 

(iii) Former was in A.S. forma ( = first). It is a superlative form with 
a comparative sense. 

(iv) Better comes from A.S. bet = good — a root which was found in 
betan, to make good, and in the phrase to boot = " to the good." 

(v) Later and latest refer to time ; latter and last to position in 
space or in a series. Last is as by assimilation from latst ; as best is from 
betst. 

(vi) Less does not come from the lit in little; but from A.S. laes-sa, 
from the base las, weak. Least = laesest. 

(vii) Nighest is contracted into next ; as highest was into hext. Thus 
gh + s=k + s = x. 



34 GKAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(viii) We say " the oldest man that ever lived, " and " the eldest of 
the family." Older and oldest refer to mere number ; elder and eldest 

to a family or corporate group. 

(ix) Rathe is still found in poetry. Milton has " the rathe primrose, 
that forsaken dies ; " and Coleridge, " twin buds too rathe to bear the 
winter's unkind air." The Irish pronunciation rayther is the old Eng- 
lish pronunciation. 

(x) Hind is used as an adjective in the phrase " the hind wheels." 

22. The following are defective comparatives and superla- 
tives : — 

Positive. Comparative. Superlative. 

[Aft] after 

[In] * inner innermost. 

[Out] outer (or utter) outermost (or uttermost). 

nether nethermost. 

over 

[Up] upper uppermost. 

(i) After, as an adjective, is found in aftermath and afterthought. 

(ii) In is used as an adjective in the word in-side; and as a noun in 
the phrase " the ins and outs " of a question. 

(iii) In the inns of law, the utter-bar (outer- Oar) is opposed to the 
inner-bar. 

(iv) The neth in nether is the same as the neath in beneath. 

(v) The ov in over is the ove in above, and is a dialectic form of up. 
It is still found in such names as Over Leigh in Cheshire, and Over 
Darwen in Lancashire. 

(vi) Hindmost, uttermost, are not compounds of most, but are 
double superlatives. There was an old superlative ending ema, which 
we see in Lat. extremus, supremus, etc. It was forgotten that this was 
a superlative, and est or ost was added. Thus we had hindema, mid- 
ema. These afterwards became hindmost and midmost. 



THE VERB. 

1. The Verb is that "part of speech" by means of which 
we make an assertion. 

It is the keystone of the arch, of speech. 

(i) The word verb comes from the Lat. verbum, a word. It is so 
called because it is the word in a sentence. If we leave the verb out 
of a sentence, all the other words become mere nonsense. Thus we can 



THE VERB. 



35 



say, " I saw him cross the bridge." Leave out satv, and the other words 
have no meaning whatever. 

(ii) A verb has sometimes been called a telling word, and this ia a 
good and simple definition for young learners. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS. 

2. Verbs are divided into two classes — Transitive and 
Intransitive. 

3. A Transitive Verb denotes an action or feeling which, 
as it were, passes over from the doer of the action to the 
object of it. " The boy broke the stick ; " " he felled the 
tree ; " "he hates walking." 

In these sentences we are able to think of the action of breaking and 
felling as passing over to the stick and the tree. 

Transitive comes from the Lat. verb translre, to pass over. 

The more correct definition is this : — 

A Transitive Verb is a verb that requires an object. 

This definition covers the instances of have, otvn, possess, inherit, etc., 
as well as break, strike, fell, etc. 

4. An Intransitive Verb denotes a state, feeling, or action 
which does not pass over, but which terminates in the doer or 
agent. " He sleeps ; " " she walks ; " "the grass grows." 

5. There is, in general, nothing in the look or appearance 
of the verb which will enable us to tell whether it is transitive 
or intransitive. A transitive verb may be used intransitively ; 
an intransitive verb, transitively. In a few verbs we possess 
a causative form. Thus we have : — 



Intransitive. 


Causative. 


Intransitive. 


Causative. 


Bite 1 


Bait. 


Lie 


Lay. 


Drink l 


Drench. 


Rise 


Raise. 


Fall 


Fell. 


Sit 


Set. 



i These are also used transitively. 

The following exceptional usages should be diligently 
noted : — 

I. Intransitive verbs may be used transitively. Thus — 



(i) (a) He walked to London, 
(a) The eagle flew, 



(b) He walked his horse. 
(6) The boy flew his kite. 



36 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) When the intransitive verb is compounded with a pre- 
position either (i) separable, or (ii) inseparable. 

(i) (a) He laughed. (6) He laughed-at me. 

(ii) (a) He came. (b) He overcame the enemy, 

(iii) (a) He spoke. (6) He bespoke a pair of boots. 

Such verbs are sometimes called " Prepositional Verbs." 

IT. Transitive verbs may be used intransitively — 
(i) "With the pronoun itself understood : — 

(a) He broke the dish. (b) The sea breaks on the rocks. 

{a) She shut the door. (6) The door shut suddenly. 

(a) They moved the table. (6) The table moved. 

(ii) When the verb describes a fact perceived by the senses :— 

(a) He cut the beef. (6) The beef cuts tough. 

(a) He sold the books. (b) The books sell well. 

(a) She smells the rose. (6) The rose smells sweet. 

The following is a tabular view of the 

KINDS OF VEEBS. 



INTRANSITIVE. TRANSITIVE. 

I 1 



Of State. Of action. Active. Passive. 

(Sleep.) (Run.) (Wound ) (Be wounded.) 

THE INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 

6. Verbs are changed or modified for Voice, Mood, Tense, 
Number, and Person. These changes are expressed, partly by 
inflexion, and partly by the use of auxiliary verbs. 

(i) A verb is an auxiliary verb (from Lat. auxilium, aid) when it? 
own full and real meaning drops out of sight, and it aids or helps the 
verb to which it is attached to express its meaning. Thus we say, " He 
works hard that he may gain the prize ; " and here may has not its old 
meaning of power, or its present meaning of permission. But — 

(ii) If we say " He may go," here may is not used as an auxiliary, 
but is a notional verb, with its full meaning ; and the sentence is= 
" He has leave to go." 



THE VERB. 37 



Voice. 

7. Voice is that form of the Verb by which ws show 
whether the subject of the statement denotes the doer of the 
action, or the object of the action, expressed by the verb. 

8. There are two Voices : the Active Voice, and the Passive 
Voice. 

(i) When a verb is used in the active voice, 

the subject of the sentence stands for 
the doer of the action. " He killed the mouse." 
(ii) When a verb is in the passive voice, 

the subject of the sentence stands for 

the object of the action. " The mouse was killed." 

Or we may say that, in the passive voice 
the grammatical subject denotes the real 
object. 
(iii) There is in English a kind of middle voice. Thus we can say, 
"He opened the door" (active); "The door was opened" (passive); 
"The door opened" (middle). In the same way we have, "This wood 
cuts easily ; " " Honey tastes sweet ; " " The book sold well," etc. 

9. An Intransitive Verb, as it can have no direct object, 
cannot be used in the passive voice. But, as we have seen, 
we can make an intransitive into a transitive verb by adding 
a preposition ; and hence we can say : — 

Active. Passive. 

(a) They laughed at him. (6) He was laughed-at by them, 

(a) The general spoke to him. (6) He was spoken-to by the general. 

10. In changing a verb in the active voice into the passive, 
we may make either (i) the direct or (ii) the indirect object 
into the subject of the passive verb. 

Active. Passive. 

1. They offered her a chair. (i) A chair was offered her. 

(ii) She was offered a chair. 

2. They showed him the house. (i) The house was shown him. 

(ii) He was shown the house. 

3. I promised the boy a coat. (i) A coat was promised the boy. 

(ii) The boy was promised a coat. 

The object after the passive verb is not the real object of that verb, for 
a passive verb cannot rightly take an object. It is left over, as it were, from the 
active verb, and is hence sometimes called a Retained Object. 



38 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

11. The passive voice of a verb is formed by using a part 
of the verb to be and the past participle of the verb. Thns 
we say — 

Active. Passive. Active. Passive. 

I beat. I am beaten. I have beaten. I have been beaten. 

(i) Some intransitive verbs form their perfect tenses by means of the 
verb to be and their past participle, as " I am come ; " " He is gone." 
But the meaning here is quite different. There is no mark of anything 
done to the subject of the verb. 

(ii) Shakespeare has the phrases : is run ; is arrived ; are marehed 
forth ; is entered into ; is stolen away. 

Mood. 

12. The Mood of a verb is the manner in which the state- 
ment made by the verb is presented to the mind. Is a 
statement made directly? Is a command given? Is a state- 
ment subjoined to another? All these are different moods or 
modes. There are four moods: the Indicative; the Impera- 
tive ; the Subjunctive ; and the Infinitive. 

(i) Indicative comes from the Lat. indicare, to point out. 

(ii) Imperative comes from the Lat. imperare, to command. Hence 
also emperor, empress, etc. (through French). 

(iii) Subjunctive comes from Lat. subjungere, to join on to. 

(iv) Infinitive comes from Lat. infinltus, unlimited ; because the verb 
in this mood is not limited by person, number, etc. 

13. The Indicative Mood makes a direct assertion, or puts 
a question in a direct manner. Thus we say : " John is ill ; " 

"Is John ill?" 

14. The Imperative Mood is the mood of command, 
request, or entreaty. Thus we say : " Go ! " " Give me the 
book, please ; " " Do come back ! " 

(i) The Imperative Mood is the simple form of the verb without any 
inflexion. 

(ii) It has in reality only one person — the second. 

15. The Subjunctive Mood is that form of the verb which 
is used mainly in a sentence subjoined to a principal 



THE VERB. 39 

sentence, — and which does not express a fact directly, but 
only the relation of a fact to the mind of the speaker. 
Most often it expresses both doubt and futurity. Thus we 
say: (i) "0 that he were here!" (ii) "Love not sleep, lest 
thou come to poverty." (iii) " Whoever he be, he cannot be 
a good man." 

(i) In the first sentence, the person is not here. 

(ii) In the second, the person spoken to has not come to poverty ; but 
he may. 

(iii) In the third, we do not know who the person really is. 

(iv) The Subjunctive Mood, in modern English, has lost many of its 
older uses. 

16. The Infinitive Mood is that form of the verb which 
has no reference to any agent, and is therefore unlimited by 
person or by number. It is the verb itself, pure and simple. 

(i) The preposition to is not an essential part nor a necessary sign of 
the infinitive. - The oldest sign of it was the ending in an. After may, 
can, shall, will, must, bid, dare, do, let, make, hear, see, feel, need, the 
simple infinitive, without to, is still used. 

(ii) The Infinitive is really a noun, and it may be (a) either in the 
nominative or (b) in the obj. case. Thus we have : (a) " To err is 
human ; to forgive, divine ; " and (6) " I wish to go." 

(iii) In O.E. it was partly declined ; and the dative case ended 
in anne or enne. Then to was placed before this dative, to indicate 
purpose. Thus we find, " The sower went out to sow," when, in O.E. 
to sow was to sawenne. This, which is now called the gerundial infinitive, 
has become very common in English. Thus we have, "I came to see 
you ;" "A house to let." "To hear him (= on hearing him) talk, you 
would think he was worth millions." 

(iv) We must be careful to distinguish between (a) the pure Infinitive 
and (6) the gerundial Infinitive. Thus we say — 

{a) I want to see him. (b) I went to see him. The latter is the 
gerundial infinitive — that is, the old dative. 

(c) The gerundial infinitive is attached (1) to a noun ; and (2) to an 
adjective. Thus we have such phrases as — 

(1) Bread to eat ; water to drink ; a house to sell. 

(2) Wonderful to relate ; quick to take offence ; eager to go. 

17. A Gerund is a noun formed from a verb by the addition 
of ing. It may be either (i) a subject ; or (ii) an object ; or 



40 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



(iii) it may be governed by a preposition. It has two functions : 
that of a noun, and that of a verb — that is, it is itself a noun, 
and it has the governing power of a verb. 

(i) Reading is pleasant, (ii) I like reading, (iii) He got off by cross- 
ing the river. In this last sentence, crossing is a noun in relation to by, 
and a verb in relation to river. 

Gerund comes from the Lat. gero, I carry on ; because it carries on 
the power or function of the verb. 

(ii) The Gerund must be carefully distinguished from three other 
kinds of words : (a) from the verbal noun, which used to end in ung ; 
(6) from the present participle ; and (c) from the infinitive with to. 
The following are examples : — 

(a) "Forty and six years was this tem- 
ple in building." Here building is a 
verbal noun. 

(b) "Dreaming as he went along, he 
fell into the brook." Here dreaming has 
the function of an adjective agreeing with 
he, and is therefore a participle. 

(c) "To write is quite easy, when one 
has a good pen." Here to write is a pres- 
ent infinitive, and is the nominative to is. 
(It must not be forgotten that the oldest 
infinitive had no to, and that it still exists 
in this pure form in such lines as " Better 
dwell in the midst of alarms, than reign 
ia this horrible place. " 



(a) "He was punished for robbing th« 
orchard." Here robbing is a gerund, be. 
cause it is a noun and also governs a noun. 

(&) " He was tired of dreaming such 
dreams." Here dreaming is a gerund, 
because it is a noun and governs a noun. 

(c) " He comes here to write his letters." 
Here to write is the gerundial infinitive ; 
it is in the dative case; and the O.E. 
form was to writanne. Here the to ha» 
a distinct meaning. This is the so- 
called "infinitive of purpose;" but it is 
a true gerund. In the seventeenth cen- 
tury, when the sense of the to was weak- 
ened, it took a for, — '* What went ye out 
for to see ? ' 



(iii) The following three words in ing have each a special function :— 

(a) He is reading about the passing of Arthur (verbal noun). 

(b) And Arthur, passing thence (participle), rode to the wood. 

(c) This is only good ior passing the time (gerund). 



18. A Participle is a verbal adjective. There are two pa^ 
ticiples : the Present Active and the Perfect Passive. The 
former (i) has two functions : that of an adjective and that 
of a verb. The latter (ii) has only the function of an adjective. 

(i) "Hearing the noise, the porter ran to the gate." In this sentence, 
hearing is an adjective qualifying porter, and a verb governing noise. 

(ii) Defeated and discouraged, the enemy surrendered. 

t&T 1. We must be very careful to distinguish between (a) the gerund in 
ing, and (b) the participle in ing. Thus running in a " running stream * 



THE VERB. 41 

is an adjective, and therefore a participle. In the phrase, " in running 
along," it is a noun, and therefore a gerund. Milton says — 

" And ever, against eating cares, 
Lap me in soft Lydian airs ! " 

Here eating is an adjective, and means fretting ; and it is therefore a 
participle. But if it had meant cares about eating, eating would have 
been a noun, and therefore a gerund. So a fishing-rod is not a rod 
that fishes ; a frying-pan is not a, pan that fries; a walking-stick is not 
a stick that walks. The rod is a rod for fishing ; the pan, a pan for 
frying ; the stick, a stick for walking ; and therefore fishing, frying, 
and walking are all gerunds. 

2. The word participle comes from Lat. participare, to partake of. 
The participle partakes of the nature of the verb. (Hence also par- 
ticipate.) 

Tense. 

19. Tense is the form which the verb takes to indicate time. 
There are three times : past, present, and future. Hence there 
are in a verb three chief tenses : Past, Present, and Future. 
These may be represented on a straight line : — 

TENSES. 

! 

I I I 

Past. Present. Future. 

I wrote. I write. I shall write. 

(i) The word tense comes to us from the Old French tens, which is 
from the Lat. tempus, time. Hence also temporal, temporary, etc. (The 
modern French word is temps.) 

20. The tenses of an English verb give not only the time of 
an action or event, but also the state or condition of that 
action o^ event. This state may be complete or incomplete, 
or neither — that is, it is left indefinite. These states are 
oftener called perfect, imperfect, and indefinite. The con- 
dition, then, of an action as expressed by a verb, or the con- 
dition of the tense of a verb, may be of three kinds. It may 
be— 

(i) Complete or Perfect, as Written. 

(ii) Incomplete or Imperfect, as Writing, 
(iii) Indefinite, as Write. 



42 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

We now have therefore — 

TENSES. 

! 

Past. Present. Future. 

_ I I I 

i i i iii iii. 

Perfect. Indef. Imperf. Perfect. Indef. Imperf. Perfect. Indef. Imperf. 

Had Wrote. Was Have Write. Am Shall Shall Shall be 

written. writing. written. writing. have write, writing. 

written. 

(i) The only tense in our language that is formed by inflexion is the 
past indefinite. All the others are formed by the aid of auxiliaries. 

(a) The imperfect tenses are formed by be + the imperfect 

participle. 

(b) The perfect tenses are formed by have + the perfect par- 

ticiple. 

(ii) Besides had written, have written, and will have written, we can say 
had been writing, have been writing, and will have been writing. These 
are sometimes called Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Continuous, Perfect 
Continuous, and Future Perfect Continuous. 

(iii) " I do write," " I did write," are called Emphatic forms. 

Number. 

21. Verbs are modified for Number. There are in verbs 
two numbers : (i) the Singular and (ii) the Plural. 

(i) We say, " He writes " (with the ending s). 

(ii) We say, " They write " (with no inflectional ending at all). 

Person. 

22. Verbs are modified for Person — that is, the form of the 
verb is changed to suit (i) the first person, (ii) the second 
person, or (iii) the third person. 

(i) "I write." (ii) " Thou writest." (iii) " He writes." 

Conjugation. 

23. Conjugation is the name given to the sum-total of all the 
inflexions and combinations of the parts of a verb. 

The word conjugate comes from the Lat. conjugare, to bind together. 



THE VERB. 43 

24. There are two conjugations in English — the Strong and 
the Weak. Hence we have : (i) verbs of the Strong Con- 
jugation, and (ii) verbs of the Weak Conjugation, which 
are more usually called Strong Verbs and Weak Verbs. 
These verbs are distinguished from each other by their way 
of forming their past tenses. 

25. The past tense of any verb determines to which of these 
classes it belongs ; and that by a twofold test — one positive and 
one negative. 

26. (i) The positive test for the past of a Strong Verb 
is that it changes the vowel of the present, (ii) The nega- 
tive test is that it never adds anything to the present to make 
its past tense. 

(i) Thus we say write, wrote, and change the vowel, 
(ii) But in wrote there is nothing added to write. 

27. (i) The positive test for the past tense of a Weak Verb 
is that d or t is added to the present, (ii) The negative test is 
that the root-vowel of the present is generally not changed. 

(i) There are some exceptions to this latter statement. Thus tell, 
told ; buy, bought ; sell, sold, are weak verbs. The change in the vowel 
does not spring from the same cause as the change in strong verbs. 
Hence — 

(ii) It is as well to keep entirely to the positive test in the case of 
weak verbs. However "strong" or "irregular" may seem to be the 
verbs teach, taught ; seek, sought ; say, said, we Tcnoxo that they are 
weak, because they add a d or a t for the past tense. 

(iii) In many weak verbs there seems to be both a change of vowel 
and also an absence of any addition. Hence they look like strong 
verbs. In fact, the long vowel of the present is made short in the past. 
Thus we find meet, met ; feed, fed. But these verbs are not strong. 
The old past was mette and fedde ; and all that has happened is that 
they have lost the old inflexions te and de. It was owing to the addi- 
tion of another syllable that the original long vowel of the verb was 
shortened. Compare nation, national ; vain, vanity. 

(iv) The past or passive participle of strong verbs had the suffix en 
and the prefix ge. The suffix has now disappeared from many strong 
verbs, and the prefix from all. But ge, which in Chaucer's time had 
become y (as in yeomen, yronnen), is retained still in that form in the 
one word yclept. Milton's use of it in star-y -pointing is a mistake. 



44 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



28. The following is an 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF STRONG VERBS. 

(All strong verbs except those which have a, prefix are monosyllabic.) 

The forms in italics are weak. 



Pre*. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Prcs. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Abide 


abode 


abode. 


Fly 


flew 


flown. 


Arise 


arose 


arisen. 


Forbear 


forbore 


forborne. 


Awake 


awoke 


awoke 


Forget 


forgot 


forgotten. 




(awaked) (awaked). 


Forsake 


forsook 


forsaken. 


Bear 


bore 


born. 


Freeze 


froze 


frozen. 


(bring forth) 




Get 


got 


got, gotten. 


Bear 


bore 


borne. 


Give 


gave 


given. 


(carry) 






Go 


went 


gone. 


Beat 


beat 


beaten. 


Grind 


ground 


ground. 


Begin 


began 


begun. 


Grow 


grew 


grown. 


Behold 


beheld 


beheld (be- 


Hang 


hung 


hung, 






holden). 




(hanged 


hanged. 


Bid 


bade, bid 


bidden, bid. 


Hold 


held 


held. 


Bind 


bound 


bound. 


Know 


knew 


known. 


Bite 


bit 


bitten, bit. 


Lie 


lay 


lain. 


Blow 


blew 


blown. 


Ride 


rode 


ridden. 


Break 


broke 


broken. 


Ring 


rang 


rung. 


Burst 


burst 


burst. 


Rise 


rose 


risen. 


Chide 


chid 


chidden, 


Run 


ran. 


run. 






chid. 


See 


saw 


seen. 


Choose 


chose 


chosen. 


Seethe 


sod(seethed) sodden. 


Cleave 


clove 


cloven. 


Shake 


shook 


shaken. 


(split) 






Shine 


shone 


shone. 


Climb 


clomb 


(climbed). 


Shoot 


shot 


shot. 


Cling 


clung 


clung. 


Shrink 


shrank 


shrunk. 


Come 


came 


come. 


Sing 


sang 


sung. 


Crow 


crew 


crown 

(crowed). 


Sink 


sank 


sunk, 
sunken. 


Dig 


dug 


dug. 


Sit 


sat 


sat. 


Do 


did 


done. 


Slay 


slew 


slain. 


Draw 


drew 


drawn. 


Slide 


slid 


slid. 


Drink 


drank 


drunk, 


Sling 


slung 


slung. 






drunken. 


Slink 


slunk 


slunk. 


Drive 


drove 


driven. 


Smite 


smote 


smitten. 


Eat 


ate 


eaten. 


Speak 


spoke 


spoken. 


Fall 


fell 


fallen. 


Spin 


spun 


spun. 


Fight 


fought 


fought. 


Spring 


sprang 


sprung. 


Find 


found 


found. 


Stand 


stood 


stood. 


Fling 


flung 


flung. 


Stave 


stove 


staved. 



THE VERB. 



45 



Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Steal 


stole 


stolen. 


Thrive 


throve 


thriven 


Stick 


stuck, 1 


stuck. 




(thrived) 


(thrived). 


Sting 


stung 


stung. 


Throw 


threw 


thrown. 


Stink 


stank 


stunk. 


Tread 


trod 


trodden, 


Stride 


strode 


stridden. 






trod. 


Strike 


struck 


struck. 


Wake 


woke 


(waked). 


String 


strung 


strung. 




(waked) 




Strive 


strove 


striven. 


Wear 


wore 


worn. 


Swear 


swore 


sworn. 


Weave 


wove 


woven. 


Swim 


swam 


swum. 


Win 


won 


won. 


Swing 


swung 


swung. 


Wind 


wound 


wound. 


Take 


took 


taken. 


Wring 


wrung 


wrung. 


Tear 


tore 


torn. 


Write 


wrote 


written. 



It is well for the young learner to examine the above verbs 
closely, and to make a classification of them for his own use. 
The following are a few suggestions towards this task : — 

(i) Collect verbs with vowels a, e, a ; like fall, fell, fallen. 

(ii) Verbs with o, e> o ; like throw, threw, thrown, 
(hi) Verbs with i, a, U ; like begin, began, begun 
(iv) Verbs with i, u, U ; like fling, flung, flung. 

(v) Verbs with i, ou, ou ; like find, found, found, 
(vi) Verbs with ea, 0, ; like break, broke, broken, 
(vii) Verbs with i, a, i ; like give, gave, given. 
(viii) Verbs with a, o or oo, a ; like shake, shook, shaken, 
(ix) Verbs with i (long), o, i (short) ; like drive, drove, driven. 

(x) Verbs with ee or oo, o, o ; like freeze, froze, frozen ; or choose, 
chose, chosen. 

29. Weak Verbs are of two kinds : (i) Irregular Weak ; 
md (ii) Regular Weak. The Irregular Weak are such verbs 
-,s tell, told ; buy, bought. The Regular Weak are such 
erbs as attend, attended; obey, obeyed. 

(i) The Irregular Weak verbs are, with very few exceptions, mono- 
syllables, and are almost all of purely English origin. 

(ii) The Regular Weak verbs are generally of Latin or of French 
origin. Since the language lost the power of changing the root-vowel 
of a verb, every verb received into our tongue from another language 
has been placed in the Regular Weak conjugation. 



1 The past tenses of dig and stick were formerly weak. 



46 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



30. Irregular Weak verbs are themselves divided into two 
classes : (i) those which keep their ed, d, or t in the past 
tense; (ii) those which have lost the d or t. Thus we find 
(i) sleep, slept ; teach, taught. Among (ii) we find feed, fed, 
which was once fed-de ; set, set, which was once set-te. 

It is of the greatest importance to attend to the following 
changes : — 

(i) A sharp consonant in the spoken language follows a sharp, and a 
flat a flat. Thus p in sleep is sharp, and therefore we cannot say deeped. 
We must take the sharp form of d, which is t, and say slept. 

(ii) Some verbs shorten their vowel. Thus we have hear, heard; 
flee, fled; sleep, slept, etc. 

(iii) Some verbs have different vowels in . the present and past : as 
tell, told ; buy, bought ; teach, taught ; work, wrought. But it is not 
the past tense, it is the present that has changed. 

(iv) Some have dropped an internal letter. Thus made is = maked; 
paid = payed; had=haved. 

(v) Some verbs change the d of the present into a t in the past. Thus 
we have build, built ; send, sent. 

(vi) A large class have the three parts — present, past, and passive 
participle — exactly alike. Such are rid, set, etc. 

The following is an 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF IRREGULAR WEAK VERBS. 
Class I. 



Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Bereave 


bereft 


bereft. 


Dwell 


dwelt 


dwelt. 


Beseech 


besought 


besought. 


Feel 


felt 


felt. 


Bring 


brought 


brought. 


Flee 


fled 


fled. 


Burn 


burnt 


burnt. 


Grave 


graved 


graven. 


Buy 


bought 


bought. 


Have 


had 


had. 


Catch 


caught 


caught. 


Hew 


hewed 


hewn. 


Cleave 


cleft 


cleft. 


Hide 


hid 


hidden. 


(split) 






Keep 


kept 


kept. 


Creep 


crept 


crept. 


Kneel 


knelt 


knelt. 


Deal 


dealt 


dealt. 


Lay 


laid 


laid. 


Dream 


dreamt 


dreamt. 


Lean 


leant 


leant. 







THE 


VERB. 




47 


Pres. 


Past. 


Pass Part. 


Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Learn 


learnt 


learnt. 


Shear 


sheared 


shorn. 


Leap 


leapt 


leapt. 


Shoe 


shod 


shod. 


Leave 


left 


left. 


Show 


showed 


shown. 


Lose 


lost 


lost. 


Sleep 


slept 


slept. 


Make 


made 


made. 


Sow 


sowed 


sown. 


Mean 


meant 


meant. 


Spell 


spelt 


spelt. 


Pay 


paid 


paid. 


Spill 


spilt 


spilt. 


Pen 


pent 


pent. 


Strew 


strewed 


strewn. 




(penned) 


Sweep 


swept 


swept. 


Rap (to 


rapt 


rapt. 


Swell 


swelled 


swollen. 


transport) 




Teach 


taught 


taught. 


Rive 


rived 


riven. 


Tell 


told 


told. 


Rot 


rotted 


rotten. 1 


Think 


thought 


thought. 


Say 


said 


said. 


"Weep 


wept 


wept. 


Seek 


sought 


sought. 


Work 


wrought 


wrought. 1 


Sell 


sold 


sold. 




worked 


worked. 


Shave 


shaved 


shaven. 








1 Rotten and w 


rought are now used as adjectives, and 


not as passive 


particip 


es ; cp. wrought iron, rotte 


n wood. 










Clas 


s II. 






Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Pres. 


Past. 


Pass. Part. 


Bend 


bent 


bent. 


Meet 


met 


met 


Bleed 


bled 


bled. 


Put 


put 


put. 


Blend 


blent 


blent. 


Read 


read 


read. 


Breed 


bred 


bred. 


Rend 


rent 


rent. 


Build 


built 


built. 


Rid 


rid 


rid. 


Cast 


cast 


cast. 


Send 


sent 


sent. 


Clothe 


clad 


clad 


Set 


set 


set. 




(clothed) (clothed). 


Shed 


shed 


shed. 


Cost 


cost 


cost. 


Shred 


shred 


shred. 


Cut 


cut 


cut. 


Shut 


shut 


shut. 


Feed 


fed 


fed. 


Slit 


slit 


slit. 


Gild 


gilt 


gilt (gilded). 


Speed 


sped 


sped. 




(gilded) 


Spend 


spent 


spent. 


Gird 


girt 


girt. 


Spit 


spit 


spit. 


Hear 


heard 


heard. 


Split 


split 


split. 


Hit 


hit 


hit. 


Spread 


spread 


spread. 


Hurt 


hurt 


hurt. 


Sweat 


sweat 


sweat. 


Knit 


knit 


knit. 


Thrust 


thrust 


thrust. 


Lead 


led 


led. 


W T end 


wended 


wended. 


Lend 


lent 


lent. 




or went 


Let 


let 


let. 


Wet 


wet 


wet 


Light 


lit(lighte 


d) lit (lighted). 









48 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



31. Before we can learn the full conjugation of a verb, we 
must acquaint ourselves with all the parts of the auxiliary 
verbs — Shall and Will ; Have and Be. 

(i) If be means existence merely (as in the sentence God is), it is 
called a notional verb ; if it is used in the formation of the passive 
voice, it is an auxiliary verb. In the same way, have is a notional 
verb when it means to possess, as in the sentence, "I have a shilling." 

32. The following are the parts of the verb Shall : — 



Indicative Mood. 
Present Tense. 



Singular. 

1. I shall. 

2. Thou shal-t. 

3. He shall. 



Singular. 

1. I shoul-d. 

2. Thou shoul-d-st 

3. He shoul-d. 



Past Tense. 



Plural. 

1. We shall. 

2. You shall. 

3. They shall. 

Plural. 

1. We shoul-d 

2. You shoul-d 

3. They shoul-d 



Imp. Mood 



Inf. Mood 



Participles 



33. The following are the parts of the verb Will : — 



Indicative Mood. 



Singular. 

1. I will. 

2. Thou wil-t. 

3. He will. 



Singular. 

1. I would 

2. Thou woul-rf- 

3. He woul-rf. 



Present Tense. 

1. 
2. 
3. 

Past Tense. 

1. 
2. 
3. 



Plural. 
We will. 
You will. 
They will 

Plural. 
We woul-rf. 
You woul-d. 
They woul-d. 



Imp. Mood 



Inf. Mood 



Participles 



(i) Shall and will are used as Tense-auxiliaries. As a tense-auxiliary, 
shall is used only in the first person. Thus we say, I shall write ; 
thou wilt write ; he will write — when we speak merely of future time. 



THE VERB. 49 

(ii) Shan't is = shall not. Won't is = wol not, wol being another form 
of will. We find wol also in wolde — an old spelling of would. 

(hi) Shall in the 1 st person expresses simple futurity ; in the 2d and 
3d persons, authority. Will in the 1st person expresses determination ; 
in the 2d and 3d, only futurity. 

34. The following are the parts of the verb Have : — 

Indicative Mood. 
Present Indefinite Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I have. 1. We have. 

2. Thou ha-st. 2. You have. 

3. Heha-s. 3. They have. 

Present Perfect Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I have had. 1. We have had. 

2. Thou hast had. 2. You have had. 

3. He has had. 3. They have had. 



Past Indefinite Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I had. 1. We had. 

2. Thou had-st. 2. You had. 

3. He had. 3 They had. 

Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I had had. ' 1. We had had. 

2. Thou hadst had. 2. You had had. 

3. He had had. 3. They had had. 

Future Indefinite Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I shall have. 1. We shall have. 

2. Thou wilt have. 2. You will have. 

3. He will have. 3. They will have. 

Future Perfect Tense. 





Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


I shall have had. 


1 . We shall have had. 


2. 


Thou wilt have had. 


2. You will have had. 


3. 


He will have had. 


3. They will have had, 



50 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Subjunctive Mood. 
Present Indefinite Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I have. 1. We have. 

2. Thou have. 2. You have. 

3. He have. 3. They have. 

Present Perfect Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I have had. 1. We have had, 

2. Thou have had. 2. You have had. 

3. He have had. 3. They have had. 

Past Indefinite Tense. 

Same in form as the Indicative. 

Past Perfect Tense. 
Same in form as the Indicative. 

Imperative Mood. — Singular : Have ! 
Plural : Have ! 

Infinitive Mood. — Present Indefinite : (To) have. 
Perfect : (To) have had. 

Participles. — Imperfect : Having. 

Past (or Passive) : Had. 

Compound Perfect (Active) : Having had. 

35. The following are the parts of the verb Be : — 
Indicative Mood. 

Present Indefinite Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I am. 1. We are. 

2. Thou ar-t. 2. You are. 

3. He is. 3. They are. 

Present Perfect Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I have been. 1. We have been. 

2. Thou hast been. 2. You have been. 

3. He has been. 3. They have been. 



THE VERB. 51 



Fast Indefinite Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I was. 1. We were. 

2. Thou wast or wert. 2. You were. 
8. He was. 3. They were. 

Past Perfect (Pluperfect) Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I had been. 1. We had been. 

2. Thou hadst been. 2. You had been. 

3. He had been. 3. They had been. 

Future Indefinite Tense. 
I shall be, etc. 

Future Perfect Tense. 
I shall have been, etc. 



Subjunctive Mood. 

Present Indefinite Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I be. 1. We be. 

2. Thou be. 2. You be. 

3. Hebe. 3. They be. 

Present Perfect Tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I have been. 1. We have been. 

2. Thou have been. 2. You have been. 

3. He have been. 3. They have been. 

Past Indefinite Tense. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I were. 1. We were. 

2. Thou wert. 2. You were. 

3. He were. 3. They were. 

Past Perfect (Pluperfect) Tense. 
(Same in form as the Indicative. ) 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I had been. 1. We had been. 

2. Thou hadst been. 2. You had been. 

3. He had been. 3. They had been. 



52 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Imperative Mood. — Singular : Be ! 
Plural : Be ! 

Infinitive Mood. — Present Indefinite : (To) be. 

Present Perfect : (To) have been. 

Participles. — Present : Being. 
Past : Been. 
Compound : Having been. 

We find the short simple form Be ! in Coleridge s line — 

" Be, rather than be called, a child of God !" 

(i) It is plain from the above that the verb Be is made up of fragments 
of three different verbs. As when, in a battle, several companies of a 
regiment have been severely cut up, and the fragments of those that 
came out safely are afterwards formed into one company, so has it been 
tith the verb be. Hence the verb ought to be printed thus : — 

Am 

■ was 

been. 

(ii) Am is a different verb from was and been. The m in am is the 
same as the m in me, and marks the first person. The t in art is the 
same as the th in thou, and marks the second person. Compare wil-t 
and shal-t. Is has lost the suffix th. The Germans retain this, and say 
ist. Are is not the O.E. plural, which was sind or sindon. The word 
are was introduced by the Danes. 

(iii) Was is the past tense of the old verb wesan, to be. In some of 
the dialects of England it appears as war — the German form. 

(iv) Be is a verb without present or past tense. 

(v) (a) Be is a notional or principal verb when it means to exist, as 
" God is." (6) It is also a principal verb when it is used as a joiner or 
copula, as in the sentence, "John is a teacher," where the is enables us 
to connect John and teacher in the mind. In such instances it is called 
a Copulative Verb or Copula. 



THE VERB. 53 

36. The Auxiliary Verbs have different functions. 

(i) The verb Be is a Voice (and sometimes a Tense) Aux- 
iliary. It enables us to turn the active into the passive voice, 
and to form the imperfect tenses. 

(ii) May, should, and let are Mood Auxiliaries. May and 
should help us to make the compound subjunctive tenses ; and 
let is employed in the Imperative Mood to form a kind of third 
person. Thus Let him go is = Go he / 

(iii) Have, Shall, and "Will, are Tense Auxiliaries. With 
the aid of have, we form the perfect tenses ; with the help of 
shall and will, the future tenses. 

(iv) Can is a defective verb with only one mood, the In- 
dicative, and two tenses, the Present and the Past. 

Present. I can ; thou canst, etc. 
Past. I could ; thou couldst, etc. 

Could is a weak form. The I has no right there : it has crept in from 
a false analogy with should and would. Chaucer always writes coude or 
couihe. 

(v) May is also defective, having only the Indicative Mood 
and the Present and Past Tenses. 

Present. I may ; thou may est, etc. 
Past. I might ; thou mightest, etc. 

The O.E. word for may was maegan. The g is still preserved in the 
gh of the past tense. The guttural sound indicated by g or gh has 
vanished from both. 

(vi) Must is the past tense of an old verb motan, to be 
able. 

It is used only in the Indicative * 
sometimes in the Past Tense ; r 
tenses. 

It expresses the idea of n 



54 GEAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

37. The following is the full conjugation of a verb 

ACTIVE VOICE. 
Indicative Mood. 

I. Present Indefinite Tense. 
I strike. 

Present Imperfect Tense. 
I am striking. 

Present Perfect Tense. 
I have struck. 

Present Perfect Continuous. 
I have been striking. 

II. Past Indefinite Tense. 
I struck. 

Past Imperfect Tense. 
I was striking. 

Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Tense. 
I had struck. 

Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Continuous., 
I had been striking. 

III. Future Indefinite Tense. 
I shall strike. 

Future Imperfect Tense. 
I shall be striking. 

Future Perfect Tense. 
I shall have struck. 

Future Perfect Continuous. 
I shall have been striking. 

Subjunctive Mood. 

"t Indefinite Tense. 

he strike. 

Tense. 

^king. 



THE VERB. 55 

Present Perfect Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he have struck. 

Present Perfect Continuous. 
(If) I 3 thou, he have been striking. 

II. Past Indefinite Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he struck. 

Past Imperfect Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he were striking. 

Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Tense. 
(Same in form as the Indicative.) 

Past Perfect (or Pluperfect) Continuous. 
(Same in form as the Indicative.) 

Imperative Mood. 

Present Tense. 
Singular. 2. Strike (thou) ! Plural. 2. Strike (ye) ! 

Infinitive Mood. 

1. Present Indefinite, . . (To) strike. 

2. Present Imperfect, . . (To) be striking. 

3. Present Perfect, . . . (To) have struck. 

4. Present Perfect Continuous, (To) have been striking. 

5. Future Indefinite, • . (To) be about to strike. 

Participles. 

1. Indefinite and Imperfect, . Striking. 

2. Present Perfect, . . . Having struck. 

3. Perfect Continuous, . . Having been striking. 

Gerunds. 
1. Striking. 2. To strike. 



PASSIVE VOICE. 

Indicative Mood. 

I. Present Tense. 
- I am struck (am being struck). 

Present Perfect Tense. 
I have b^en struck. 



56 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

II. Past Tense. 
I was struck (was being struck). 

Past Perfect Tense. 
I had been struck. 

III. Future Indefinite Tense. 
I shall be struck. 

Future Perfect Tense. 
I shall have been struck. 

Subjunctive Mood. 

I. Present Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he be struck. 

Present Perfect Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he have been struck. 

II. Past Tense. 
(If) I, thou, he were struck (were being struck). 

Past Perfect Tense. 

(If) I had been struck. 

Imperative Mood. 

Present Tense. 
Singular. 2. Be struck ! Plural. 2. Be struck S 

Infinitive Mood. 

1. Present Indefinite, . . (To) be struck. 

2. Imperfect, .... (None.) 

3. Present Perfect, . . . (To) have been struck. 

Participles. 

1. Past Indefinite, . . . Struck. 

2. Imperfect, . . . . Being struck. 

3. Present Perfect, . . . Having been struck. 

4. Future, Going or about to be struck. 

Gerunds. 
(None.) 



ADVERBS. 57 



ADVERBS. 

1. An Adverb is a word which goes with a verb, with an 
adjective, or with another adverb, to modify its meaning : — 

(i) He writes badly. Here badly modifies the verb writes. 

(ii) The weather is very hot. Here very modifies the adjective 
hot. 

(iii) She writes very rapidly. Here rapidly modifies writes, and 
very, rapidly. 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBS. 

2. Adverbs — so far as their function is concerned — are of 
two kinds : (i) Simple Adverbs and (ii) Conjunctive Adverbs, 
(i) A Simple Adverb merely modifies the word it goes with. 
A Conjunctive, Adverb has two functions : (a) it modifies, 
and (b) joins one sentence with another. Thus, if I say " He 
came when he was ready," the adverb when not only modifies 
the verb came, and shows the time of his coming, but it joins 
together the two sentences - He came " and " he was ready." 

3. Adverbs — so far as their meaning is concerned — are of 
several kinds. There are Adverbs : (i) of Time, (ii) of Place, 
(iii) of Number, (iv) of Manner, (v) of Degree, (vi) of 
Assertion, and (vii) of Reasoning : — ■ 

(i) Of Time : Now, then ; to-day, to-morrow ; by-and-by, etc. 

(ii) Of Place : Here, there ; hither, thither ; hence, thence, etc. 

(iii) Of Number : Once, twice, thrice ; singly, two by two, etc. 

(iv) Of Manner : Well, ill ; slowly, quickly ; better, worse, etc. 

(v) Of Degree : Very, little ; almost, quite ; all, half, etc. 

(vi) Of Assertion : Nay, yea ; no, aye ; yes, etc. 

(vii) Of Reasoning : Therefore, wherefore ; thus ; consequently. 

THE COMPARISON OF ADVERBS. 

4. Adverbs, like adjectives, admit of degrees of comparison* 
Thus we can say, John works hard ; Tom works harder ; but 
"William works hardest of all. 



58 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



5. The following are examples of 



Irregular Comparison in Adverbs. 



Positive. 


Comparative. 


Superlative. 


Ill (or Badly) 


worse 


worst. 


Well 


better 


best. 


Much 


more 


most. 


Little 


less 


least. 


Nigh (or Near) 


nearer 


next. 


Forth 


further 


furthest. 


Far 


farther 


farthest. 


Late 


later 


last. 




latter 


latest. 


(Rathe) 


rather. 






(i) Worse (adv.) comes from A.S. wyrs. Shakespeare has toorser. 

(ii) Much is an adverb in the phrase much better. 

(iii) Little is an adverb in the phrase little inclined. 

(iv) Next = nighest ; and so we had also next = highest. Near i? 
really the comparative of nigh. 

(v) Fairer would be the proper comparative. Chaucer has farre, 
and this is still found in Yorkshire. The th in farther comes from a 
false analogy with forth, further, furthest. 

(vi) Late is an adverb in the phrase He arrived late. 

(vii) "Till rathe she rose, half -cheated in the thought." — Tennyson 
(' Lancelot and Elaine '). 

CONNECTIVES. 

1. There is, in grammar, a class of words which may be 
called joining -words or connectives. They are of two classes : 
(i) those which join nouns or pronouns to some other word ; 
and (ii) those which join sentences. The first class are called 
Prepositions ; the second Conjunctions. 



PREPOSITIONS. 

2. A Preposition is a word which connects a noun or pro- 
noun with a verb, an adjective, or another noun or pronoun. 
(It thus shows the relation between things, or between a thing 
and an action, etc.) 

(i) He stood on the table. Here on joins a verb and a noun. 



CONNECTIVES. 59 

(ii) Mary is fond of music. Here of joins an adjective and a noun. 

(iii) The man at the door is waiting. Here at joins two nouns. 

The word preposition comes from the Lat. pros, before, and positus, placed. 
We have similar compounds in composition and deposition. 

3. The noun or pronoun which follows the preposition is in 
the objective case, and is said to be governed by the prepo- 
sition. 

(i) But the preposition may come at the end of the sentence. Thus 
we can say, " This is the house we were looking at." But at still gov- 
erns which (understood) in the objective. We can also say, " Whom 
were you talking to ? " 

4. Prepositions are divided into two classes : (i) simple \ 
and (ii) compound. 

(i) The following are simple prepositions : at, by, for, in, of, off, on, 
<tut, to, with, up. 

(ii) The compound prepositions are formed in several ways : — 

(a) By adding a comparative suffix to an adverb : after, over. 

(b) By prefixing a preposition to an adverb : above, about, before, behind, 6«. 
neath, but (=be-out), throughout, within, etc. 

(c) By prefixing a preposition to a noun : aboard, across, around, among, be- 
side, outside, etc. 

(d) By prefixing an adverb or adverbial particle to a preposition : into, upon, 
until, etc. 

(iii) The preposition but is to be carefully distinguished from the con- 
junction but. " All were there but him." Here but is a preposition. 
"We waited an hour ; but he did not come." Here but is a conjunction. 
But, the preposition, was in O.E. be-utan, and meant on the outside of, 
and then without. The old proverb, " Touch not the cat but a glove," 
means " without a glove." 

(iv) Down was adown = of down = off the down or hill. 

(v) Among was = on gemong, in the crowd. 

(vi) There are several compound prepositions made up of separate 
words : instead of on account of, in spite of, etc. 

(vii) Some participles are used as prepositions : notwithstanding, con- 
cerning, respecting. The prepositions except and save may be regarded 
as imperatives. 

5. The same words are used sometimes as adverbs, and some- 
times as prepositions. We distinguish these words by their 
function. They can also be used as nouns or as adjectives. 



60 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

^) Thus we find the following words used either as 

Adverbs or as Prepositions. 

(1) Stand up ! (1) The boy ran up the hilL 

(2) Come on ! (2) The book lies on the table. 

(3) Be off ! (3) Get off the chair. 

(4) He walked quickly past. (4) He walked past the church. 

(ii) Adverbs are sometimes used as nouns, as in the sentences, " I 
have met him before now." " He is dead since then." 

(iii) In the following we find adverbs used as adjectives: "thine 
often infirmities ; '' " the then king," etc. 

(iv) A phrase sometimes does duty as an adverb, as in " from beyond 
the sea ; " " from over the mountains," etc. 

CONJUNCTIONS. 

6. A Conjunction is a word that joins words and sentences 

together. 

E.g. — "Two and three are five," or "John came and James left." 
In the first case it is obvious that " and " joins words only, as, in the 
second case, it joins sentences. 

7. Conjunctions are of two kinds : (i) Co-ordinative ; and 
(ii) Subordinative. 

(i) Co-ordinative Conjunctions are those which connect co-ordinate 
sentences and clauses — that is, sentences neither of which is dependent 
on the other. The following is a list : And, both, but, either — or, neither 
— nor. 

(ii) Subordinative Conjunctions are those which connect subordinate 
sentences with the principal sentence to which they are subordinate. 
The type of a subordinative conjunction is that, which is really the de- 
monstrative pronoun. " I know that he has gone to London " is=»" He 
has gone to London : I know that." 

(iii) The following is a list of subordinative conjunctions : After, 
before; ere, till; while, since; lest; because, as; for; if; unless; 
though; whether — or; than. 



INTERJECTIONS. 

1. Interjections are words which have no meaning in them- 
selves, but which give sudden expression to an emotion of 
the mind. They are no real part of language ; they do not 
enter into the build or organism of a sentence. They have no 
grammatical relation to any word in a sentence, and are there- 



WOKDS KNOWN BY THEIR FUNCTIONS. 61 

fore not, strictly speaking, " parts of speech." Thus we say, Oh ! 
Ah ! Alas ! and so on ; but the sentences we employ would be 
just as complete — in sense — without them. They are extra- 
grammatical utterances. 

(i) The word interjection comes from the Lat. inter, between, and 
jactus, thrown. 

(ii) Sometimes words with a meaning are used as interjections. Thus 
we say, Welcome ! for " You are well come. " Good-bye ! for God be with 
you! The interjection "Now then!" consists of two words, each of 
which has a meaning ; but when employed inter jectionally, the compound 
meaning is very different from the meaning of either. 

(iii) In written and printed language, interjections are followed by the 
mark (!) of admiration or exclamation. 



WORDS KNOWN BY THEIR FUNCTIONS, 
AND NOT BY THEIR INFLEXIONS. 

1. The Oldest English. — When our language first came over 
to this island, in the fifth century, our words possessed a large 
number of inflexions ; and a verb could be known from a noun, 
and an adjective from either, by the mere look of it. Yerbs 
had one kind of inflexion, nouns another, adjectives a third; 
and it was almost impossible to confuse them. Thus, in O.E. 
(or Anglo-Saxon) thunder, the verb, was thunrian — with the 
ending an; but the noun was tliunor, without any ending at 
all. Then, in course of time, for many and various reasons, 
the English language began to lose its inflexions ; and they 
dropped off very rapidly between the 11th and the 15th cen- 
turies, till, nowadays, we possess very few indeed. 

2. Freedom given by absence of Inflexions. — In the 16th 
century, when Shakespeare began to write, there were very 
few inflexions ; the language began to feel greater liberty, 
greater ease in its movements ; and a writer would use the same 
word sometimes as one part of speech, and sometimes as another. 
Thus Shakespeare himself uses the conjunction but both as a 
verb and as a noun, and makes one of his characters say, " But 



62 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

me no buts ! " He employs the adverb askance as a verb, and 
says, " From their own misdeeds they askance their eyes." He 
has the adverb backward with the function of a noun, as in the 
phrase " The backward and abysm of time." Again, he gives 
ns an adverb doing the work of an adjective, as in the phrases 
"my often rumination," "a seldom pleasure." In the same 
way, Shakespeare has the verbs "to glad" and "to mad." Yery 
often he uses an adjective as a noun; and " a fair " is his phrase 
for "beauty," — "a pale" for "a paleness." He carries this 
power of using one " part of speech " for another to the most 
extraordinary lengths. He uses happy for to make happy; 
unfair for to deface ; to climate for to live ; to bench for to sit ; 
^ false for to falsify ; to path for to walk; to verse for to speak 
of in verse ; and many others. Perhaps the most remarkable is 
where he uses tongue for to talk of and brain for to think of. In 
" Cymbeline " he says : — 

" 'Tis still a dream ; or else such stuff as madness 
Will tongue, and brain not. . . ." 

3. Absence of Inflexions. — At the present time, we have lost 
almost all the inflexions we once had. We have only one for 
the cases of the noun ; none at all for ordinary adjectives (ex- 
cept to mark degrees) ; a few in the pronoun ; and a few in the 
verb. Hence we can use a word sometimes as one part of 
speech, and sometimes as another. We can say, " The boys had 
a good run;" and "The boys run very well." We can say, 
" The train travelled very fast," where fast is an adverb, modi- 
fying travelled ; and we can speak of " a fast train." We can 
use the phrase, "The very man," where very is an adjective 
marking man ; and also the phrase "A very good man," where 
very is an adverb modifying the adjective good. 

4. Function. — It follows that, in the present state of our 
language, when we cannot know to what class a word belongs 
by its look, we must settle the matter by asking ourselves what 
is its function. We need not inquire what a word is ; but we 
must ask what it does. And just as a bar of iron may be used 
as a lever, or as a crowbar, or as a poker, or as a hammer, or as 



WORDS KNOWN BY THEIR FUNCTIONS. 63 

<i weapon, so a word may be an adjective, or a noun, or a verb, 
- — just as it is used. 

5. Examples. — When we say, "He gave a shilling for the 
Ibook," for is a preposition connecting the noun book with the 
verb gave. But when we say, " Let us assist them, for our case 
is theirs," the word for joins two sentences together, and is hence 
a conjunction. In the same way, we can contrast early in the 
proverb, "The early bird catches the worm," and in the sentence 
"He rose early." Hard in the sentence "He works hard" is an 
adverb; in the phrase "A hard stone " it is an adjective. Right 
is an adverb in the phrase " Eight reverend ; " but an adjective 
in the sentence " That is not the right road." Back is an adverb 
in the sentence " He came back yesterday ; " but a noun in the 
sentence " He fell on his back." Here is an adverb, and where 
an adverbial conjunction ; but in the line — 

" Thou losest here, a better where to find," 

Shakespeare employs these words as nouns. The, in ninety-nine 
cases out of a hundred, is an adjective ; but in such phrases as 
" The more, the merrier," it is an adverb, modifying merrier and 
more. Indeed, some words seem to exercise two functions at 
the same time. Thus Tennyson has — 

" Slow and sure conies up the golden year," — 

where slow and sure may either be adverbs modifying comes, or 
adjectives marking year ; or both. This is also the case with 
the participle, which is both an adjective and a verb ; and with 
the gerund, which is both a verb and a noun. 

6. Function or Form ? — From all this it appears that we are 
not merely to look at the form of the word, we are not merely 
to notice and observe; but we must think — we must ask our- 
selves what the word does, what is its function ? In other 
words, we must always — when trying to settle the class to which 
a word belongs — ask ourselves two questions — 

(i) What other word does it go with 1 and 
(ii) What does it do to that word 1 



SYNTAX. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

1. The word Syntax is a Greek word which means arrange- 
ment. Syntax, in grammar, is that part of it which treats of 
the relations of words to each, other in a sentence. 

2. Syntax is usually divided into two parts, which are called 
Concord and G-overnment. 

(i) Concord means agreement. The chief concords in grammar are 
those of the Verb with its Subject ; one Noun with another Noun ; 
the Pronoun with the Noun it stands for; the Relative with its 
Antecedent. 

(ii) Government means the influence that one word has upon another. 
The chief kinds of Government are those of a Transitive Verb and 
a Noun ; a Preposition and a Noun. 



I. —SYNTAX OF THE NOUN. 

1.— THE NOMINATIVE CASE. 

Rule I. — The Subject of a sentence is in the nominative 
Case. 

Thus we say, I write ; John writes : and both / and John — the sub- 
jects in these two sentences — are in the nominative case. 

Eule IT. — When one noun is used to explain or describe 
another, the two nouns are said to be in Apposition ; and they 
are always in the same case. 



SYNTAX OF THE NOUN. 65 

Thus we find in Shakespeare's Henry V., i. 2. 188 : — 

" So work the honey-bees, 
Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach 
The art of order to a peopled kingdom." 

Here bees is the nominative to work ; creatures is in apposition with 
bees, and hence is also in the nominative case. (Of course, two nouns 
in apposition may be in the objective case, as in the sentence, " We met 
John the gardener.") 

(i) The words in apposition may be separated from each other, as in 
Cowper's well-known line about the postman : — 

" He comes, the herald of a noisy world. " 

Rule III. — The verb to be, and other verbs of a like nature, 
take two nominatives — one before and the other after. 

Thus we find such sentences as — 

(i) General Wolseley is an able soldier. 

(ii) The long-remembered beggar was his guest. 

In the first sentence Wolseley and soldier refer to the same person , 
beggar and guest refer to the same person ; and all that the verbs is 
and was do is to connect them. They have no influence whatever upon 
either word. When is (or are) is so used, it is called the copula. 



Rule IV. — The verbs become, be-ealled, be-named, live, 
turn-out, prove, remain, seem, look, and others, are of an 
appositional character, and take a nominative case after them 
as well as before them. 

Thus we find : — 

(i) Tom became an architect. 

(ii) The boy is called John. 

(hi) He turned out a dull fellow. 

(iv) She moves a goddess ; and she looks a queen. 

On examining the verbs in these sentences, it will be seen that they 
do not and cannot govern the noun that follows them. The noun be- 
fore and the noun after designate the same person. 

Rule Y. — A Noun and an Adjective, or a Noun and a Par- 
ticiple, or a Noun and an Adjective Phrase, — not syntactically 

£ 



66 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

connected with any other word in the sentence, — are put in the 

Nominative Absolute. 

Thus we have : — 

(i) " She earns a scanty pittance, and at night 

Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light." — Cowfee, 

(ii) The wind shifting, we sailed slowly. 

(iii) "Next Anger rushed, his eyes on fire." — Collins. 

(iv) Dinner over, we went up-stairs. 

The word dbsolutus means freed ; and the absolute case has been freed from, 
and -is independent of, the construction of the sentence. 

Remarks. — 1. In the oldest English (or Anglo-Saxon), the 
absolute case was the Dative ; and this we find even as late as 
Milton (1608-1674), who says— 

"Him destroyed, 

All else will follow." 

2. Caution! In the sentence, "Pompey, having been de- 
feated, fled to Africa," the phrase having been defeated is at- 
tributive to Pompey \ which is the noun to fled. But, in the 
sentence, " Pompey having been defeated, his army broke up," 
Pompey — not being the noun to any verb — is in the nomina- 
tive absolute. Hence, if a noun is the nominative to a verb, 
it cannot be in the nominative absolute. 

Remarks on Exceptions. 

1. The pronoun It is often used as a Preparatory Nomina- 
tive, or — as it may also be called — a Representative Subject. 
Thus we say, "It is very hard to climb that hill," where it 
stands for the true nominative, to-climb-that-hill. 

2. The nominative to a verb in the Imperative Mood is 
usually omitted. Thus Come along ! = Come thou (or ye) along ! 



SYNTAX OF THE NOUN. 67 



2.— THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 

Eule VI. — When one Noun stands in the relation of an 
attribute to another Noun, the first of these nouns is put in 
the Possessive Case. 

(i) The Possessive Case originally denoted mere possession, as John's 
book ; John's gun. But it has gradually gained a wider reference ; and 
we can say, "The Duke of Portland's funeral," etc. 

(ii) The objective case with of is = the possessive ; and we can say, 
"The might of England," instead of "England's might." 



Rule VII. — When (i) two or more Possessives are in apposi- 
tion, or (ii) when several nouns connected by and are in the 
possessive case, the sign of the possessive is affixed to the 
last only. 

(i) Thus we find : (i) For thy servant David's sake, (ii) Messrs Simp- 
kin & Marshall's house. 

ggt The fact is, that Messrs Simpkin-&-Marshall, and other such phrases, 
are regarded as one compound phrase. 

(ii) The sentence, "This is a picture of Turner's," is = " This is a 
picture (one) of Turner's pictures." The 0/ governs, not Turner's, but 
pictures. Hence it is not a double possessive, though it looks like it. 

The phrase, "a friend of mine," contains the same idiom ; only mine is used 
in place of my, because the word friend has been suppressed. 



3.— THE OBJECTIVE CASE. 

1. The Objective Case is that case of a noun or pronoun 
that is " governed by " a transitive verb or by a preposition. 

*3T It is only the pronoun that has a special form for this case. 
The English noun formerly had it, but lost it between the years 1066 
and 1300. 



68 GKAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

2. The Objective Case is the case of the Direct Object; 
the Dative Case is the case of the Indirect Object — and 
something more. 

(i) The Direct Object answers to the question Whom ? or What ? 

(ii) The Indirect Object answers to the question To whom ? To what ? 
or For whom ? For what ? 

3. The object of an active- transitive verb must always be a 
Noun or the Equivalent of a Noun. 



Rule VIII — The Direct Object of an Active-Transitive 
Verb is put in the Objective Case. 

Thus we read : (i) We met the man (Noun), (ii) We met him 
(Pronoun), (iii) We saw the fighting (Verbal Noun), (iv) I like to 
work (Infinitive), (v) I heard that he had left (Noun clause). 

Rule IX. — Verbs of teaching, asking, making, appoint- 
ing, etc., take two objects. 

Thus we say : (i) He teaches me grammar, (ii) He asked me a 
question, (iii) They made him manager, (iv) The Queen appointed 
him Treasurer. 

AST In the last two instances the objects are sometimes called factitive 
objects. 



Rule X. — Some Intransitive Verbs take an objective case 
after them, if the objective has a similar or cognate meaning 
to that of the verb itself. 

Thus we find : (i) To die the death, (ii) To sleep a sleep, (iii) To 
go one's way. To wend one's way. (iv) To run a race, (v) Dreaming 
dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. 

S8T Such objects are called cognate objects. 



Rule XI. — The limitations of a Verb by words or phrases 
expressing space, time, measure, etc., are said to be in the 



SYNTAX OF THE NOUN. 69 

objective case ; as (i) he walked three miles ; (ii) he travelled 
all night ; (iii) the stone weighed three pounds. 

j(W 1. Because these words limit or modify the verbs to which they 
are attached, they are sometimes called Adverbial Objectives. 

2. The following phrases are adverbial objectives of the same kind : 
(i) They bound him hand and foot, (ii) They fell upon him tooth and 
nail. (iii) They turned out the Turks, bag and baggage. Such 
phrases are rightly called adverbial, because they modify bound, fell, 
and turned ; and show how he was bound, how they fell upon him, etc. 



Eemarks on Exceptions. 

1. The same verb may be either Intransitive or Transitive, 
according to its use. Thus — 

Intransitive. Transitive. 

(i) The soldier ran away. (i) The soldier ran his spear into 

the Arab, 
(ii) The man works very hard. (ii) The master works his men too 

hard, 
(iii) We walked up the hill. (iii) The groom walked the horse 

up the hill. 

2. An Intransitive verb performs the function of a Transi- 
tive verb when a preposition is added to it. Thus — 

Intransitive. Transitive. 

(i) The children laughed. (i) The children laughed at the clown, 

(ii) The man spoke. (ii) The man spoke of wild beasts. 

3. The preposition may continue to adhere to such a verb, 
so that it remains even when the verb has been made passive. 

Thus we can say : (i) He was laughed-at. (ii) "Whales were spoken-of. 
(iii) Prosecution was hinted-at. And this is an enormous convenience 
in the use of the English language. 



4.— THE DATIVE CASE. 

1. The Dative is the case of the Indirect Object. 

Thus we say : He handed her a chair. She gave it me. 

2. The Dative is also the case which is used with 



70 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

such verbs as be, worth, seem, please, think ( = seem) ; and 
with the adjectives like and near. 

Thus we have the phrases, meseems ; if you please ( = if it please 
you) ; methought ( = it seemed to me) ; woe is me ! and, she is like 
him; he was near us. 

" Woe worth the chase ! woe worth the day 
That cost thy life, my gallant grey ! " 

— " Lady of the Lake." 
" When in Salamanca's cave 
Him listed his magic wand to wave, 

The bells would ring in Notre-Dame." 

— " Lay of the Last Minstrel." 

3. N.B. — It is to be noted that the Dative survives ety- 
mologically (as in meadow from A.S. mced-we, dative of mcedu, 
or as in whilom and seldom, where the om represents a dative 
case-ending in um, etc.) but not grammatically, so far as 
the present form of the case is concerned. 

Rule XII. — Verbs of giving, promising, telling, showing, 
etc., take two objects ; and the indirect object is put in the 
dative case. 

Thus we say : He gave her a fan. She promised me a book. Tell us 
a story. Show me the picture-book. 

Rule XIII.- — When such verbs are turned into the passive 
voice, either the Direct or the Indirect Object may be turned 
into the Subject of the Passive Verb. Thus we can say 
either — 

Direct Object used as Subject. Indirect Object used as Subject. 

(i) A fan was given her. (i) She was given a fan. 1 

(ii) A book was promised me. (ii) I was promised a book. 1 

(hi) A story was told us. (iii) We were told a story. 1 

(iv) The picture- book was shown (iv) I was shown the picture-book. 1 
me. 

1 This has sometimes been called the Retained Object. The words 
fan, etc., are in the objective case, not because they are governed by the 
passive verbs was given, etc., but because they still retain, in a latent 
form, the influence or government exercised upon them by the active 
verbs, give, promise, etc. 



SYNTAX OF THE ADJECTIVE. 71 



Remarks on Exceptions. 

1. The Dative of the Personal Pronoun was in frequent use 
in the time of Shakespeare to add a certain liveliness and in- 
terest to the statement. 

Thus we find, in several of his plays, such sentences as — 
(i) " He plucked me ope his doublet." 

(ii) "Villain, I say, knock me at this gate, and rap me well." 
(iii) " Your tanner will last you nine year." 
Grammarians call this kind of dative the ethical dative. 

2. The Dative was once the Absolute Case. 

"They have stolen away the body, us sleeping." 

— Wyclif's Bible. 



II.— SYNTAX OF THE ADJECTIVE. 

1. In our Old English — the English spoken before the coming 
of the Normans, and for some generations after — every adjec- 
tive agreed with its noun in gender, number, and case ; and 
even as late as Chaucer (1340-1400) adjectives had a form for 
the plural number. Thus in the Prologue to the ' Canterbury 
Tales,' he writes — 

K And smale fowles maken melodie," 

where e is the plural inflexion. 

2. In course of time, partly under the influence of the Nor- 
mans and the Norman language, all these inflexions dropped 
off; and there are now only two adjectives in the whole lan- 
guage that have any inflexions at all (except for comparison), 
and these inflexions are only for the plural number. The two 
adjectives that are inflected are the demonstrative adjectives 
this and that, which make their plurals in these (formerly thise) 
and those. 

(i) The, which is a broken-down form of that, never changes at all. 

(ii) When an adjective is used as a noun, it may take a plural inflec- 
tion ; as the blacks, goods, equals, edibles, annuals, monthlies, weeklies, etc 

3. Most adjectives are inflected for comparison. 



72 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

4. Every adjective is either an explicit or an implicit predi- 
cate. The following are examples : — 

Adjectives used as Explicit Predicates. 

1. The way was long ; the wind was cold. 

2. The minstrel was infirm and old. 

3. The duke is very rich. 

Adjectives used as Implicit Predicates. 

1. We had before us a long way and a cold wind. 

2. The infirm old minstrel went wearily on. 

3. The rich duke is very niggardly. 

5. When an adjective is used as an explicit predicate, it is 
said to be used predicatively ; when it is used as an implicit 
predicate, it is said to be used attributively. 

Adjectives used predicatively. 

1. The cherries are ripe. 

2. The man we met was very old. 

Adjectives used attributively. 

1. Let us pluck only the ripe cherries. 

2. We met an old man. 

Rule XIV. — An adjective may qualify a noun or pronoun 
predicatively, not only after the verb be, but after such in- 
transitive verbs as look, seem, feel, taste, etc. 

Thus we find : (i) She looked angry, (ii) He seemed weary, (iii) H« 
felt better, (iv) It tasted sour, (v) He fell ill. 

Eule XV. — After verbs of making, thinking, considering, 
etc., an adjective may be used factitively as well as predica- 
tively. 

Thus we can say, (i) We made all the young ones happy, (ii) All 
present thought him odd. (iii) We considered him very clever. 
Factitive comes from the Latin facio, I make. 

Eule XVI. — An adjective may, especially in poetry, be used 
as an abstract noun. 

Thus we speak of " the True, the Good, and the Beautiful ; " " the 
sublime and the ridiculous ; " Mrs Browning has the phrase, " from the 
depths of God's divine ;" and Longfellow speaks of 

" A band 
Of stern in heart and strong in hand." 



SYNTAX OF THE ADJECTIVE. 73 

It^LE XVII. — An adjective may be used as an adverb in 

poetry. 

Thus we find in Dr Johnson the line— 

" Slow rises worth, by poverty depressed ; " 

and in Scott — 

" Trip it deft and merrily ; " 

and in Longfellow— 

" The green trees whispered low and mild ; " 

And in Tennyson — 

" And slow and sure comes up the golden year." 

(i) The reason for this is that in O.E. adverbs were formed from adjectives by 
adding e. Thus brighte was = lrightly, and dee]pe=deeply. But in course of 
time the e fell off, and an adverb was just like its own adjective. Hence we still 
have the phrases : " He works hard ; * "Run quick!" " Speak louder ! " "Run 
fast!" "Right reverend," etc. 

(ii) Shakespeare very frequently uses adjectives as adverbs, and has such sen- 
tences as : " Thou didst it excellent ! " '"Tis noble spoken !" and many more. 

Eule XVIII. — A participle is a pure adjective, and agrees 
with its noun. 

Thus, in Pope — 

" How happy is the blameless vestal's lot, 
The world forgetting, by the world forgot ! " 

where forgetting, the present active participle, and forgot, the past 
passive participle, both agree with vestal (" the vestal's lot " being = the 
lot of the vestal). 

(i) But while a participle is a pure adjective, it also retains one function of a 
verb— the power to govern. Thus in the sentence, "Respecting ourselves, we 
shall be respected by the world," the present participle respecting agrees with 
we, and governs ouv">lves. 

Rule XIX. — -The comparative degree is employed when 
two things or two sets of things are compared ; the superla- 
tive when three or more are compared. 

Thus we say " James is taller than I ; but Tom is the tallest of the 
three." 

(i) Than is a dialectic form of then. " James is taller ; then I (come)." 
(ii) The superlative is sometimes used to indicate superiority to all others. 
Thus Shakespeare says, " A little ere the mightiest Julius fell ; " and we use such 
phrases as, " Truest friend and noblest foe." This is sometimes called the 
" superlative of pre-eminence." 

(iii) Double comparatives and superlatives were much used in O.E., and 
Shakespeare was especially fond of them. He gives us such phrases as, "a 
more larger list of sceptres," "more better,"' "more nearer," "most worst," 
"most unkindest cut of all," etc. These cannot be employed now. 



74 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Rule XX. — The distributive adjectives each, every, either \ 
neither, go with singular nouns only. 

Thus we say : (i) Each boy got an apple, (ii) Every noun is in its 
place, (iii) Either book will do. (iv) Neither woman went. 

Either and neither are dialectic forms of other and nother, which 
were afterwards compressed into or and nor. 



III.— SYNTAX OF THE PRONOUN. 

Rule XXI. — Pronouns, whether personal or relative, must 
agree in gender, number, and person with the nouns for 
t which they stand, but not (necessarily) in case. 

Thus we say : "I have lost my umbrella : it was standing in the 
corner." 

(i) Here it is neuter, singular, and third person, because umbrella is neuter, 
singular, and third person. 

(ii) Umbrella is in the objective case governed by have lost; but it is in the 
nominative, because it is the subject to its own verb was standing. 



Rule XXII. — Pronouns, whether personal or relative, take 
their case from the sentence in which they stand. 

Thus we say : "The sailor whom, we met on the beach is ill." Here 
sailor is in the nominative, and whom, its pronoun, in the objective. 

(i) Whom is in the objective, because it is governed by the verb met in its 
own sentence. "The sailor is ill" is one sentence. "Him (whom = and him) 
we met" is a second sentence. 

(ii) The relative may be governed by a preposition, as " The man on whom I 
relied has not disappointed me." 



Rule XXIII. — Who, whom, and whose are used only of 
rational beings ; which of irrational ; that may stand for 
nouns of any kind. 

(i) Whose may be used for of which. Thus Wordsworth, in the 
'Laodamia,' has— 

" In worlds whose course is equable and pure." 



SYNTAX OF THE PRONOUN. 75 

Rule XXIV. — The possessive pronouns mine, thine, ours, 
yours, and theirs can only be used predicatively ; or, if used 
as a subject, cannot have a noun with them. 

Thus we say: "This is mine." "Mine is larger than yours." But 
in older English mine and thine are used for my and thy before a noun : 
" Who knoweth the power of thine anger ? " 



Rule XXV. — After such, same, so much, so great, etc.. 
the relative employed is not who, but as. 

Thus Milton has — 

"Tears such as angels weep." 

(i) Shakespeare uses as even after that — 

" That gentleness as I was wont to have." 

This usage cannot now be employed. 



Remarks on Exceptions. 

1. The antecedent to the relative may be omitted. 

Thus we find, in Wordsworth's " Ode to Duty " — 

" There are A who ask not if thine eye 
Be on them." 

And Shakespeare, in " Othello," hi. 3, 157, has — 

" A Who steals my purse, steals trash." 

And we have the well-known Greek proverb — 

" A Whom the gods love, die young." 

2. The relative itself may be omitted. 

(i) Thus Shelley has the line — 

"Men must reap the things A they sow." 

(ii) And such phrases as, ( ' Is this the book A you wanted ? " are very 
common. 



76 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

3. The word but is often used for who + not. It may hence 
be called the negative-relative. 

Thus Scott has — 

" There breathes not clansman of my line 
But ( = who not) would have given his life for mine." 

4. The personal pronouns, when in the dative or objective 
case, are generally without emphasis. 

(i) If we say " Give me your hand," the me is unemphatic. If we say 
" Give me your hand ! " the me has a stronger emphasis than the give, 
and means me, and not any other person. 

(ii) Very ludicrous accidents sometimes occur from the misplacing of 
the accent. Thus a careless reader once read : " And he said, ' Saddle 
me the ass;' and they saddled him." Nelson's famous signal, "Eng- 
land expects every man to do his duty," was once altered in em- 
phasis with excellent effect. A midshipman on board one of H.M.'s 
ships was very lazy, and inclined to allow others to do his work ; and the 
question went round the vessel : " Why is Mr So-and-so like England ? " 
" Because he expects every man to do his duty." 



IV.— SYNTAX OF THE VERB. 

1.— CONCORD OF VERBS. 

We cannot say I writes, or He or The man write. We always say / write, 
He writes, and The man writes. In other words, certain pronouns and 
nouns require a certain form of a verb to go with them. If the pronoun 
is of the first person, then the verb will have a certain form ; if it is of the 
third person, it will have a different form. If the noun or pronoun is sing- 
ular, the verb will have one form ; if it is plural, it may have another form. 
In these circumstances, the verb is said to agree with its subject. 

All these facts are usually embodied in a general statement, which may 
also serve as a rule. 

Rule XXVI. — A Finite Verb must agree with its subject 
in Number and Person. Thus we say : " He calls," " They 
walk." 

li) The subject answers to the question Who? or What? 
(ii) The subject of a finite verb is always in the nominative case. 



SYNTAX OF THE VEEB. 77 

Or and nor are conjunctions which do not add the things mentioned 
to each other, but allow the mind to take them separately — the one 
excluding the other. We may therefore say : — 



Rule XXVII. — Two or more singular nouns that are subjects, 
connected by or or nor, require their verb to be in the singular. 
Thus we say : " Either Tom or John is going." " It was either 
a roe-deer or a large goat ! " 

On the other hand, when two or more singular nouns are connected 
by and, they are added to each other ; and, just as one and one make 
two, so two singular nouns are equal to one plural. We may therefore 
lay down the following rule : — 



Rule XXVIII. — Two or more singular nouns that are sub- 
jects, connected by and, require their verb to be in the plural. 
We say : "Torn and John are going." "There were a roe- 
deer and a goat in the field." 

(i) When two or more singular nouns represent one idea, the verb is 
singular. Thus, in Milton's " Lycidas," we find — 

" Bitter constraint and sad occasion dear 
Compels me to disturb your season due." 

And, in Shakespeare's "Tempest" (v. 104), we read — 

" All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement 
Inhabits here." 

In this case we may look upon the statement as = " A condition which 
embraces all torment," etc. 

(ii) When the verb precedes a number of different nominatives, it is 
often singular. The speaker seems not to have yet made up his mind 
what nominatives he is going to use. Thus, in the well-known passage 
in Byron's " Childe Harold " we have — 

"Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, 
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress." 

And so Shakespeare, in "Julius Caesar," makes Brutus say, "There is 
tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honour for his valour, and death 
for his ambition." And, in the same way, people say, "Where is my 
hat and stick ? " 



78 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Cautions. — (i) The compound conjunction as well as does not require 
a plural verb, because it allows the mind to take each subject separately. 
Thus we say, "Justice, as well as mercy, allows it." We can see the 
truth of this remark by transposing the clauses of the sentence, and 
saying, "Justice allows it, as well as mercy [allows it]." 

(ii) The preposition with cannot make two singular subjects into one 
plural. We must say, " The Mayor, with his attendants, was there." 
Transposition will show the force of this remark also : " The Mayor was 
there with his attendants." 



Eule XXIX. — Collective ISTouns take a singular verb or 
a plural verb, as the notion of unity or of plurality is upper- 
most in the mind of the speaker. Thus we say : " Parliament 
was dissolved." " The committee are divided in opinion." 

Rule XXX. — The verb to be is often attracted into the same 
number as the nominative that follows it, instead of agreeing 
with the nominative that is its true subject. Thus we find : 
"The wages of sin is death." "To love and to admire has 
been the joy of his existence." "A high look and a proud 
heart is sin." 

2.— GOVERNMENT OF VERBS. 

Rule XXXI. — A Transitive Verb in the active voice 
governs its direct object in the objective case. Thus we say : 
" I like him ; " " they dislike her." 

The following sub-rules are of some importance : — 

(i) The participle, which is an adjective, has the same governing 
power as the verb of which it is a part — as, " Seeing the rain, I remained 
at home " — where seeing agrees with I as an adjective, and governs 
rain as a verb. 

(ii) The gerund, which is a noun, has the same governing power as 
the verb to which it belongs. Thus we say : " Hating one's neighbour is 
forbidden by the Gospel," where hating is a noun, the nominative to 
is forbidden, and a gerund governing neighbour in the objective. 

Rule XXXII. — Active-transitive Verbs of giving, promis- 
ing, offering, and suchlike, govern the Direct Object in th« 



SYNTAX OF THE YERB. 79 

objective case, and the Indirect Object in the dative. " I 
gave him an apple." " He promises me a book." 

(i) In turning these active verbs into passive, it is the direct object 
that should be turned into the subject of the passive verb ; and we 
ought to say, "An apple was given me." But custom allows of either 
mode of change ; and we also say, " I was given an apple ; " "I was 
promised a book." Dr Abbott calls the objectives apple and hook 
retained objects, because they are retained in the sentence, even 
although we know that no passive verb can govern an objective case. 

Eule XXXIII. — Such verbs as make, create, appoint, 
think, believe, etc., govern two objects — the one direct, the 
other factitive. Thus we say : " They made him king ; " 
" the king appointed him governor ; " " we thought her a 
clever woman." 

(i) The second of these objectives remains with the passive verb, 
when the form of the sentence has been changed ; and we say, " He 
was made king ; " "he was appointed governor." 

Rule XXXI Y. — One verb governs another in the Infinitive 
Or, 

The Infinitive Mood of a verb, being a pure noun, may be 
the object of another verb, if that verb is active-transitive. 
Thus we say : "I saw him go ; " "we saw the ship sink." 

(i) In these sentences, him and ship are the subjects of go and sink. 
But the subject of an infinitive is always in the objective case. The 
infinitives go and sink have a double face. They are verbs in relation 
to their subjects him and go ; they are nouns in relation to the verbs 
that govern them. 

(ii) An Infinitive is always a noun, whether it be a subject or an 
object. It is (a) a subject in the sentence, " To play football is pleasant." 
It is (6) an object in the sentence, " I like to play football." 

Rule XXXV. — Some Intransitive Verbs govern the Dative 
Case. Thus we have " Rethought," " meseems" " Woe worth 
the day ! " " Woe m me ! " " If you please ! " 

(i) Worth is from an old English verb, weorthan, to become. (The 
German form of this verb is werden. ) 



80 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) Shakespeare even construes the verb look with a dative. In 
"Cymbeline," iii. 5, 32, he has — 

She looks us like 
A thing more made of malice, than of duty. 



3.— MOODS OF VERBS. 

1. The Indicative Mood is the mood of direct assertion or statement. 
The Subjunctive Mood is the mood of assertion also, but with a modi- 
fication given to the assertion by the mind through which it passes. If 
we use the term objective as describing what actually exists independently 
of our minds, and subjective as describing that which exists in the mind 
of the speaker, — whether it really exists outside or not, — we can then 
say that— 

(i) The Indicative Mood is the mood of objective assertion, 
(ii) The Subjunctive Mood is the mood of subjective assertion. 

The Indicative Mood may be compared to a ray of light coming straight 
through the air; the Subjunctive Mood to the effect produced by the water on 
the same ray — the water deflects it, makes it form a quite different angle, and 
hence a stick in the water looks broken or crooked. 

2. The Imperative Mood is the mood of command or of request. 

3. The Infinitive Mood is the substantive mood or noun of the 
▼erb. It is always equal to a noun ; it is always either a subject or an 
object ; and hence it is incapable of making any assertion. 

4. The Subjunctive Mood has for some years been gradually dying 
out. Few writers, and still fewer speakers, use it. Good writers are 
even found to say, " If he was here, I should tell him." But a know- 
ledge of the uses of the subjunctive mood is necessary to enable us to 
understand English prose and verse anterior to the present generation. 
Even so late as the year 1817, Jane Austen, one of the best prose-writers 
of last century, used the subjunctive mood in almost every dependent 
clause. Not only does she use it after if and though, but after such con- 
junctions as till, until, because, and others. 

Eule XXXVI. — The Subjunctive Mood was used — and 
ought to be used — to express doubt, possibility, supposition, 
consequence (which may or may not happen), or wish, all as 
moods of the mind of the speaker. 



SYNTAX OF THE VERB. 81 

(i) " If thou read this, Csesar, thou mayst live." (Doubt.) 

(ii) " If he come, I will speak to him." (Possibility.) 

(hi) " Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, 

The wizard note has not been touched in vain." (Supposition.) 

(iv) " Get on your night-gown, lest occasion call us 

And show us to be watchers." (Consequence.) 

(v) " I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her 
ear ! " (Wish.) 

&HT In all of the above sentences, the clauses with subjunctives state feelings or 
notions of what may or might be. 

Eule XXXVII. — The Subjunctive Mood, being a subjoined 
mood, is usually dependent on some other clause antecedent 
in thought, and generally also in expression. The antecedent 
clause, which contains the condition, is called the conditional 
clause ; and the clause which contains the consequence of the 
supposition is called the consequent clause. 

(i) If it were so , it was a grievous fault. 

Condition. Consequence. 

(ii) If it were done when 'tis done, 
Condition. 

Then 'twere well it were done quic kly. 

Consequence. 

Remarks on Exceptions. 

1. Sometimes the conditional clause is suppressed. Thus we 
can say, " I would not endure such language " [if it were ad- 
dressed to me = conditional clause]. 

2. The conjunction is often omitted. Thus, in Shakespeare's 
play of " Julius Caesar," we find — 

" Were I Brutus, 
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
"Would ruffle up your spirits." 

Eule XXXVIII. — The Simple Infinitive — without the sign 
to — is used with auxiliary verbs, such as may, do, shall, -will, 
etc. ; and with such verbs as let, bid, can, must, see, hear, 
make, feel, observe, have, know, etc. 



82 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(i) Let darkness keep her raven gloss. 

(ii) Bid the porter come. 
(iii) I saw him run after a gilded butterfly, 
(iv) We heard him cry. 

(v) They made him go, etc., etc. 



Rule XXXIX. — The Gerund is both a noun and a verb. 
As a noun, it is governed by a verb or preposition ; as a 
verb, it governs other nouns or pronouns. 

There are two gerunds — (i) one with to; and (ii) one that 
ends in ing. 

(i) The first is to be carefully distinguished from the ordinary in- 
finitive. Now the ordinary infinitive never expresses a purpose; th« 
gerund with to may do so. Thus we find — 

" And fools who came to scon* remained to pray." 

This gerund is often called the gerundial infinitive. 

(ii) The second is to be distinguished from the present participle in 
ing, and very carefully from the abstract noun of the same form. The 
present participle in ing, as loving, hating, walking, etc., is always an 
adjective, agreeing with a noun or pronoun. The gerund in ing" is 
always a noun, and governs an object. " He was very fond of playing 
cricket." Here playing is a noun in relation to of; and a verb govern- 
ing cricket in the objective. In the words walking-stick, frying-pan, etc., 
walking and frying are nouns, and therefore gerunds. If they were ad- 
jectives and participles, the compounds would mean the stick that walks, 
the pan that fries. 

(iii) The gerund in ing must also be distinguished from the verbal 
noun in ing, which is a descendant of the verbal noun in ung. " He 
went a hunting" (where a = the old an or on) ; "Forty and six years 
was this temple in building ; " " He was very impatient during the 
reading of the will." In these sentences hunting, building, and read- 
ing are all verbal nouns, derived from the old verbal noun in ung, and 
are called abstract nouns. But if we say, " He is fond of hunting deer; " 
"He is engaged in building a hotel;" "He likes reading poetry," — then 
the three words are gerunds, for they act as verbs, and govern the three 
objectives, deer, hotel, and poetry. 

Rule XL. — The Gerundial Infinitive is frequently con- 
strued with nouns and adjectives. Thus we say : "A house 



SYNTAX OF THE ADVERB — AND PREPOSITION. 83 

fco sell or let ; " " "Wood to burn ; " " Deadly to hear, an«i 
deadly to tell ; " " Good to eat." 



V.— SYNTAX OF THE ADVEEB. 

Rule XLI. — The Adverb ought to be as near as possible to 
the word it modifies. Thus we ought to say, " He gave me 
only three shillings," and not " He only gave me three shil- 
lings," because- only modifies three, and not gave. 

This rule applies also to compound adverbs, such as at least, in like 
manner, at random, in part, etc. 

Eule XLII. — Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other 
adverbs; but they can also modify prepositions. Thus we 
have the combinations out from, up to, down to, etc. 

In the sentence, " He walked up to me," the adverb up does not 
modify walked, but the prepositional phrase to me. 



VI.— SYNTAX OF THE PEEPOSITIOK 

Eule XLIII. — All prepositions in the English language 
govern nouns and pronouns in the objective case. 

The prepositions save and except are really verbs in the imperative 
mood. 

Eule XLIY. — Prepositions generally stand before the words 
they govern ; but they may, with good effect, come after them. 
Thus we find in Shakespeare — 

" Ten thousand men that fishes gnawed upon." 
" Why, then, thou knowest what colour jet is of." 

Ajid, in Hooker, with very forcible effect — 

" Shall there be a God to swear by, and none to pray to ? " 

Eule XLV. — Certain verbs, nouns, and adjectives require 
special prepositions. Thus we cannot say, " This is different 
to that," because it is bad English to say " This differs to that." 
The proper preposition in both instances is from. 



84 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



The following is a list of some of these 
Special prepositions: — 



Absolve from. 

Abhorrence for. 

Accord with. 

Acquit of. 

Affinity between. 

Adapted to (intentionally). 

Adapted for (by nature). 

Agree with (a person). 

Agree to (a proposal). 

Bestow upon. 

Change for (a thing). 

Change with (a person). 

Confer on ( = give to). 

Confer with ( = talk with). 

Confide in ( = trust in). 

Confide to ( = in trust to). 

Conform to. 

In conformity with. 

Comply with. 

Convenient to (a person). 

Convenient for (a purpose). 

Conversant with. 

Correspond with (a person). 

Correspond to (a thing). 

Dependent on (but independent of). 



Derogatory to. 

Differ from (a statement or opinion). 

Differ with (a person). 

Different from. 

Disappointed of (what we cannot 

get). 
Disappointed in (what we have 

got). 
Dissent from. 
Exception from (a rule). 
Exception to (a statement). 
Glad of (a possession). 
Glad at (a piece of news). 
Involve in. 
Martyr for (a cause). 
Martyr to (a disease). 
Need of or for. 
Part from (a person). 
Part with (a thing). 
Profit by. 

Reconcile to (a person). 
Reconcile with (a statement). 
Taste of (food). 
A taste for (art). 
Thirst for or after (knowledge). 



VIL— SYNTAX OF THE CONJUNCTION. 

Rule XLVL — The Conjunction does not interfere with the 
action of a transitive verb or preposition, nor with the mood or 
tense of a verb. 

(i) This rule is usually stated thus : " Conjunctions generally connect 
the same cases of nouns and pronouns, and the same moods and tenses 
of verbs, as ' We saw him and her,' ' Let either him or me go ! ' " But 
it is plain that saw governs her as well as him ; and that or cannot 
interfere with the government of let. Such a rule is therefore totally 
artificial. 

(ii) It is plain that the conjunction and must make two singulars = 
one plural, as " He and I are of the same age." 



Rule XL VII. — Certain adjectives and conjunctions take 



SYNTAX OF THE CONJUNCTION. 85 

after them certain special conjunctions. Thus, such (adj.) 
requires as ; both (adj.), and ; so and as require as ; though, 
yet; whether, or; either, or; neither, nor; nor, nor; or, 
or. The following are a few examples : — 

(i) " Would I describe a preacher such as Paul ! " 

(ii). " Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull." 

Eule XLVIII. — The subordinating conjunction that may be 
omitted. Thus we can say, "Are you sure he is here'?" 
Shakespeare has, " Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ! M 



THE ANALYSIS OP SENTENCES. 

1. "Words are gregarious, and go in groups. When a group 
of words makes complete sense, it is called a sentence. A 
sentence is not a chance collection of words ; it is a true 
organism, with a heart and limbs. "When we take the limbs 
apart from the central core or heart of the sentence, and try to 
show their relation to that core, and to each other, we are said 
to analyse the sentence. The process of thus taking a sen- 
tence to pieces, and naming and accounting for each piece, is 
called analysis. 

(i) Analysis is a Greek word which means breaking up or talcing 
apart : its opposite is Synthesis, which means making up or putting 
together. 

(ii) When we examine a sentence, and divide it into its component 
parts, we are said to analyse the sentence, or to perform an act of 
analysis. But when we put words or phrases together to make a 
sentence, we perform an act of composition or of synthesis. 

2. A sentence is a statement made about something, as, 
The horse gallops. 

(i) The something (horse) is called the Subject, 
(ii) The statement (gallops) is called the Predicate. 

3. Every sentence consists, and must consist, of at least two 
parts. These two parts are the thing we speak about and 
what we say about that thing. 

(i) The Subject is what we speak about. 

(ii) The Predicate is what we say about the subject. 

(i) There is a proverb of Solomon which says: "All things are double one 
against another." So there are the two necessarily complementary ideas of even 
and odd; of right and left ; of north and south; and many more. In language, the 
two ideas of Subject and Predicate are necessarily coexistent ; neither can exist 
without the other; we cannot even think the one without the other. They are 
the two polei of thought. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 87 

(ii) Sometimes the Subject is not expressed in imperative sentences, as in "Go !" = 
"Go you!" 

(iii) To make a complete statement, the Predicate must always be expressed. 

4. There are three kinds of sentences : Simple, Compound, 
and Complex. 

(i) A simple sentence contains only one subject and one predicate, 
(ii) A complex sentence contains a chief sentence, and one or 
more sentences that are of subordinate rank to the chief sentence. 

(iii) A compound sentence contains two or more simple sentences 
of equal rank. 

I.— THE SIMPLE SENTENCE. 

5. A Simple Sentence is a sentence which consists of one 
subject and one predicate. 

(i) A Simple Sentence contains, and can contain, only one finite 
verb. If we say, "Baby likes to dance," there are two verbs in 
this simple sentence. But to dance is not a finite verb ; it is an 
infinitive ; it is practically a pure noun, and cannot therefore be a 
predicate. 

(ii) If we say, " John and James ran off,** the sentence is= " John 
ran off "+ "James ran off." It is therefore a compound sentence 
consisting of two simple sentences, with the predicate of one of them 
suppressed. Hence it is called a contracted compound sentence — 
contracted in the predicate. 

In this case the sentence may be treated as Simple, " James 
and John" forming a Compound Subject to the Predicate 
"ran off." 

FORMS OF SENTENCES. 

6. Sentences differ in the Form which they take. As re- 
gards form they may be classified as follows : — 

(i) Assertive — 

(a) Positive : — The night grows cold. 

(b) Negative :^-I am not going. 

Not a drum was heard. 
They oaught never a one. 



88 * GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) Interrogative : — "Whom seek ye 1 
(iii) Exclamatory : — How swiftly the river flows ! 
In the cases of Interrogative or Exclamatory sentences, in 
which the usual order of the words is changed for the sake of 
emphasis or effect, the sentences should be put in assertive 
straightforward order for the purpose of analysis, thus : — 

Ye seek whom ? 

The river flows how swiftly ? 

(iv) Imperative : — Sir, look to your manners. 
In imperative sentences the subject is usually omitted. In 
this sentence "Sir" is really a nominative of address, and the 
real subject " you " is not expressed. 

(v) Optative, expressing a -wish or invocation : — 

' ' God bless us every one ! " 
" Oh, could I flow like thee ! " 

In Greek there is a special mood of the verb, called the 
optative, for expressions of this kind, but in English the verb 
is in the subjunctive. 

Note how the Optative differs from tho merely Assertive. Com- 
pare : — 

God bless us, i.e. May God bless us (Optative) ; and 
God blesses us (Assertive). 

PARTS OF THE SENTENCE. 

7. The Subject of a sentence is what we speak about. 
What we speak about we must name. 

If we name a thing, we must use a name or noun. 
Therefore the subject must always be either — 
(i) A noun ; or 
(ii) Some word or words equivalent to a noun. 

8. There are eight kinds of Subjects — 

(i) A Noun, as, England is our home, 
(ii) A Pronoun, as, It is our fatherland. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 89 

(iii) A Verbal Noun, as, "Walking is healthy, 
(iv) A G-erund, as, Catching fish is a pleasant pastime, 
(v) An Infinitive, as, To swim is quite easy. 
(vi) An Adjective, with a noun understood, as, The 

prosperous are sometimes cold-hearted, 
(vii) A Quotation, as, "Ay, ay, sir!" burst from a 

thousand throats. 

(viii) A Noun-clause, as, That he was a tyrant is 
generally admitted. 

(a) The verbal noun, as we have seen, originally ended in ling. 

See page 40. 

(b) Catching is a gerund, because it is both a noun (nomin- 

ative to is) and a verb, governing Jish in the objective. 

Sote (i) The Subject is sometimes composite — consisting of two or 
more words. 

the house, the homestead, the very fences, all were destroyed. 
To seize my gun and (to) fire was the work of a moment. 
To them his heart, his love, his griefs, were given. 

(ii) The Subject sometimes stands in apposition to "it" or 
"this." Thus in the sentence : — " It is my resolve to succeed," 
the effective subject is "to succeed." 

Similarly in the sentence : — "This ruined him, his inordinate love of riches," the 
effective subject is "His inordinate love of riches." Compare also :— " That was their 
sole reward, the approval of their king." 

In these cases, "it," "this," and " that" are simply temporary subjects, the real 
subject coming afterwards out of its natural order. " It," or any word thus used, 
is called the Provisional Subject. 

(iii) Sometimes, especially in poetry, an unnecessary or redundant 
pronoun is put in with the Subject, and may be regarded as forming 
part of it. 

My banks, they are furnished with bees. 

Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep, 
He, like the world, his ready visit pays 
Where fortune smiles. 

9. The Predicate in a sentence is what we say about the 
subject. If we say anything, we must use a saying or telling 
Word Now a telling word is a verb. 

Therefore the Predicate must always be a verb, or 
some word or words equivalent to a verlx 



90 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

10. There are six kinds of Predicate — 

(i) A Verb, as, God is. The stream runs. 

(ii) " To be " + a noun, as, He is a carpenter. 
(iii) " To be M + an adjective, as, They are idle, 
(iv) " To be " + an adverb, as, The books are there. 

(v) " To be " + a phrase, as, She is in good health. 
(vi) " To be " + a clause or sentence, as, His cry was, 
I die for my country. 

note (i) Only Finite or Complete Verbs can form Predicates. When 
the Verb is incomplete or infinite, as in the case of — 

(a) A. Participle, 

(b) An Infinitive, 

it cannot form the Predicate of a sentence except by the addition 
of other completing words. Thus "loving" or "to love" could 
never form a predicate, although "loving," when converted into a 
finite verb by prefixing "was," may form a predicate. 

(ii) The Verb is sometimes modified by an Adverb or Preposition 
which is closely attached to it, and which for the purpose of analysis 
may be regarded as part of the Predicate. 

They agreed to (= accepted) my proposal. 
The subject was well thrashed out ( = debated). 
The pirates stove in (= broke) the cabin-door. 

11. Cautions: — 

(i) There is a large class of verbs known as Copulative 
Verbs, which being connective rather than notional 
in their character, require another word or phrase 
to be associated with them to make the predicate 
complete. Thus : — 

He appears healthy. 

The apprentice became a merchant. 

The girl grew tall. 

The poor creature seems to be dying. 

John stands six feet. 

KOTE. — Some of these verbs are also used transitively, and then take 
an object like other transitive verbs : — Stand it on the table. 

(ii) The frequently occurring verb " to be *' (except in 
the few cases where it means "to exist "), and some 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 91 

other copulative verbs, as, to seem, to become, 
etc., can never form predicates by themselves. 

(iii) Beware of associating two dissimilar verbs as predi- 
cate. Thus in the sentence : "He refused to leave 
the ship," the predicate is not " refused to leave," 
but simply " refused." 

12. When the predicate consists of an active-transitive 
verb, it requires an object after it to make complete sense. 
This object is called either the object or the completion. As 
we must name the object, it is plain that it must always, like 
the subject, be a noun, or some word or words equivalent to a 
noun. 

13. As there are eight kinds of Subjects, so there are eight 
kind? of Qbjects. These are : — 

(i) A Noun, as, All of us love England. 

(ii) A Pronoun, as, We saw him in the garden. 

(iii) A Verbal Noun, as, We heard the reading of the 
will. 

(iv) A Gerund, as, The angler prefers taking large fish. 

(v) An Infinitive, as, We hate to be idle. 

(vi) An Adjective with a noun understood, as, Good 
men love the good. 

(vii) A Quotation, as, We heard his last "Good-bye, 
Tom ! " 

(viii) A Noun-clause, as, I knew what was the matter. 

Note (i) The words it, this, and that may form Provisional Objects, 
just as they form Provisional Subjects : — 

They consider it infamous to desert. 
This I command, no parley with the foe. 
That he abhors, the sale of flesh and blood. 



92 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) The Object, like the Subject, may consist of an unlimited 
number of these parts of speech. 

At noon the outlaw reached his glen, 
His gathered spoils, his merry men. 

At twelve the poor lad began to learn a trade and (to) help his 
parents. 



14. Verbs of giving, * promising, offering, handing, and- 
many such, take also an indirect object, which is sometimes 
called the dative : We gave the man a shilling. We offered 
him sixpence. 

15. The following may be regarded as special kinds of 
Objects : — 

(i) A Factitive Object : — 

They made him President. 

Milton did not hesitate to call Spenser a better teacher than 
Socrates or Aquinas. 

It should be noted that the words " made " and 
" call " have a more restricted meaning than 
when followed by ordinary simple objects. 

Compare: — "They made him President" with "They made 
a boat," "Milton . . . Aquinas," with "Call them quickly." 

In the latter cases "made" and "call" have a fuller meaning 
than in the former. 

Note. — Sometimes it may appear as an Adjective. 

Exercise made him strong. 
They painted the house white. 

(ii) A Cognate Object, in which the Predicate and 
Object are words of kindred meaning : — 

Let me die the death of the righteous. 
He ran his godly race. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 93 

(iii) When an active verb with two objects is changed 
into the passive form, that object which is retained 
while the other becomes the subject is termed the 
Retained Object : — 

A shilling was given the man. 
The door was denied him. 



16. The Subject or the Object must always be either — 

(i) A Noun ; or 
(ii) Some word or words equivalent to a noun. 

A Noun may have attached to it any number of adjectives 
or adjectival phrases. An adjective or adjectival phrase that 
goes with a subject or with an object is called, in Analysis, an 
Enlargement. 

It is so called because it enlarges our knowledge of the subject. 
Thus, if we say, "The man is tired," we have no knowledge of what 
kind of man is spoken of ; but if we say, " The poor old man is tired," 
our notion of the man is enlarged by the addition of the facts that he 
is both poor and old. 



17. There are seven kinds of Enlargements : — 

(i) An Adjective — one, two, or more — That big old 
red book is sold. 

(ii) A Noun (or nouns) in apposition, William the 
Conqueror defeated Harold. 

(iii) A Noun (or pronoun) in the Possessive Case, 
His hat flew off. 

(iv) A Prepositional Phrase, The walk in the fields 

was pleasant. 

(v) An Adjectival Phrase, The boy, ignorant of his 
duty, was soon dismissed. 



94 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(vi) A Participle (a), or Participial Phrase (b) — 
Sobbing and weeping, she was led from the 
room (a). The merchant, having made a fortune, 
gave up business (b). 

(vii) A Gerundial Infinitive — Anxiety to succeed ( = of 
succeeding) wore him out. Bread to eat ( = for 
eating) could not be had anywhere. 

18. It is plain that all these seven kinds of Enlargements 
may go with the Object as well as with the Subject. 

19. An Enlargement, being a word or phrase that goes 
with a noun or its equivalent, must always be an adjective 
or equivalent to an adjective. 

Note (i) An Enlargement may itself be enlarged by the same parts 
of speech as form the primary enlargements. 

(a) The handle of this sword forged by Indians is richly jewelled. 

(b) The Romans crossed a stream fed by a glacier of the Southern Alps. 

The phrases " forged by Indians," and " of the Southern Alps," 
are enlargements of ' ' sword " and " glacier " respectively, which 
are themselves parts of qualifying phrases. 

(ii) A Subject or Object may have an unlimited number of 
enlargements of various kinds : — 

The poor King, an outcast from his own domain, suffering the pangs 
of hunger and stung by bitter reproaches, ended his days in misery. 

Here King is enlarged by — 

(a) An Adjective. 

(b) A Noun in Apposition. 

(c) Two Participial phrases. 



20. The Predicate is always a Verb, standing alone if 
complete, or accompanied by other words if a verb of in- 
complete predication. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 95 

The part of the sentence that goes with the verb is either a 
simple adverb, a compound adverb, or a phrase adverbial 
in its character. 

21. The adverbs or adverbial phrases that go with the predi- 
cate are called, in Analysis, the Extensions of the Predicate. 

22. There are seven kinds of Extensions : — 

(i) An Adverb, as, The time went slowly. 

(ii) An Adverbial Phrase, as, Mr Smith writes no-w- 
and then. 

(iii) A Prepositional Phrase, as, Mr Smith spoke with 
great effect. 

(iv) A Noun Phrase, as, We walked side by side. 

(v) A Participial Phrase, as, The mighty rocks came 
bounding down. 

(vi) A Gerundial Phrase, as, He did it to insult us 

( = for insulting us). 

(vii) An Absolute Infinitive Phrase, as, To tell you 
the truth, I think him very stupid. 

jg®" Under (v) may come also the Absolute Participial Phrase, such 
as, " The clock having struck, we had to go." 

23. Extensions of the predicate are classified in the above 
section from the point of view of grammar ; but they are also 
frequently classified from the point of view of distinction in 
thought. 

In this latter way Extensions are classified as extensions of — 

(i) Time, as, We lived there three years. 

(ii) Place, (a) Whence, as, We came from York. 

(b) Where, as, He lives over the way. 

(c) Whither, as, Go home ! 



96 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(iii) IHanner (a) Manner : He treads firmly^ 

(b) Degree : She writes better. 

(c) Accompanying circumstances : They went for- 

ward under a heavy fire. 

(iv) Agent : James was represented by his minister, 
(v) Instrument : They ravaged the land with fire and sword. 

(vi) Magnitude (a) Order : He stood first in his class. 

(b) Number : The field measured ten acres. 

(vii) Mood (a) Affirmation : He certainly returned. 

(b) Negation : The enterprise will never succeed. 

4®" Never is here a more emphatic form of not, 
and therefore comes under the head of Nega- 
tion rather than of Time. 

(c) Doubt : Perhaps you will meet your friend, 
(viii) Cause : The clerk was dismissed for idleness. 

(ix) Purpose : They went abroad to better their condition, 
(x) Condition : Without me ye can do nothing, 
(xi) Concession : With all thy faults, I love thee still. 
Here the sense is obviously ' ' Notwithstanding all thy faults," etc. 



24. 

note (i) Just as a Subject or Object may have an unlimited number 
of Enlargements, so a Predicate may have any number of Exten- 
sions. 

For three years the widow dwelt quietly in the lonely cottage. Here we have 
three extensions of time, manner, and place respectively. Care should be taken 
to keep the various extensions quite distinct in analysing; the student should 
letter or number them (a), (b), (c), etc., or (1), (2), (3), etc., and state after each 
its kind. 

(ii) Where two or more extensions of the same class appear they 
should be kept distinct. At nightfall, during a heavy snowstorm- 
they wandered forth. 

Here the two extensions of time should be taken separately. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 97 

NOMINATIVE OF ADDRESS. 

25. The Nominative of Address may relate to — 

(a) The Subject : Milton ! thou shouldst be living at this 

hour. 

(b) The Object : I welcome you, good Masters. 

(c) An Extension: We shall pull towards you, Sir 

Knight. 

Or it may be detached : The castle keep, my Lord, I 
hold. 

The Nominative of Address is interjectional in its nature, 
and just as the Interjection is a part of speech standing apart 
from the family formed by the others, so a Nominative of 
Address really forms no part of the logical sentence. Regarded 
as somewhat appositional, it may be placed with that part of 
the sentence to which it specially belongs, or the rule may be 
adopted of placing it in the same column as the Subject, care 
being taken to indicate that it forms no part of the logical 
subject. 

26. The following cautions are of importance : — 

(i) The Noun in an absolute phrase cannot be the 
Subject of a simple sentence. We can say, " The 
train having started, we returned to the hotel." 
Here we is the subject. 

The phrase "the train having started" is an adverbial phrase 
modifying returned, and giving the reason for the returning. 

(ii) A subject may be compound, and may contain an 
object, as, " To save money is always useful." Here 
the subject is to save money, and contains the 
object money — the object of the verb "to save." 

An object may also contain another object, which is not the 
object of the sentence. Thus we can say, " I like to save money," 
when the direct object of like is to save, and money is a part only 
©f that direct object. 



98 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(iii) An Absolute Participial Phrase (or Nominative 
Absolute) is always an Extension of the Predicate, 
and may express — 

(a) Time : The clock having struck one, we proceeded. 

(b) Cause : Darkness coming: on, the wanderers quick- 

ened their pace. 

(c) Circumstances : I crossed the moor, the snow falling 

heavily. 

(iv) "Not usually forms an Extension of the Predicate, 

but it may also form — 

(a) Part of the Subject : Not a drum was heard. (Nega- 

tive Enlargement. ) 

(b) Part of the Object : We carved not a line. (Negative 

Enlargement. ) 
They heard never a sound. (Negative Enlargement. ) 

8^ As an Extension of the Predicate, not is usually independent of 
other extensions, as, 

They moved not (Extension of Negative) 

( during the storm (Extension of Time) 
but sometimes it simply negatives another Extension, and must not 
be dissociated from it ; as, Not in vain he wore his sandal-shoon. 

(v) There is generally — 

(a) An Extension of Place ; There they rested. 
But it is sometimes — 

(b) An Indefinite Extension (a mere Expletive). 
There were twenty present. 

The shadowy and vague character of there is shown by the 
paraphrase " Twenty were present," and also by the fact that in 
translating the sentence into many languages no equivalent would 
be put for "there." 

(vi) Distinguish between various uses of the Infinitive, 

(a) Subject : To quarrel is not my wish. 

(b) Part of the Predicate : He might win the shield* 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 99 

(c) Object : They love to wander. 

(d) Extension of the Predicate : She came to learn. 

In this case " to learn " is not an ordinary infinitive, but a ger- 
undial infinitive or infinitive of purpose, and is equivalent to " for 
learning." See p. 40. 

(vii) Care must be taken to distinguish between the 
same word when used as — 

(a) An Adjective, forming part of the Predicate with an 
Intransitive Copulative Verb — 

The king plays well. 
This apple tastes sweet, 

or (b) An Adverb, forming an Extension of the Predicate after a 
Verb— 

The king eats weU. 

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank. 

Students must be very careful to discriminate between these 
cases. Where the word indicates quality, it is adjectival in nature, 
and will form part of the Predicate ; where it indicates manner, it is 
adverbial in nature, and forms an Extension of the Predieate. 

(yiii) In the case of qualifying or limiting phrases 
(especially participial phrases), it is sometimes diffi- 
cult to determine whether they are simple Enlarge- 
ments of the Subject or Extensions of the Predi- 
cate. 

Returning then the holt he drew. 

A widow bird sat mourning for her lore. 

In the first sentence "returning" is an enlargement of "he" ; in 
the second sentence mourning 1 does not enlarge " bird," but shows 
how it sat mourning, i.e. sadly, sorrowfully. 

The safest plan in cases of this kind is to determine what principal 
part of the sentence the qualifying or limiting word or phrase is 
most closely connected with. If it is essentially qualifying in nature, 
it is probably an Enlargement of the Subject or Object ; if, on the 
other hand, it expresses some modification of, or condition in respect 
to, the Predicate, it is an Extension of the Predicate. 



100 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

THE MAPPING-OUT OF SIMPLE SENTENCES. 

27. It is of the greatest importance to get the eye to help the 
mind, and to present to the sight if possible — either on paper 
or on the black-board — the sentence we have to consider. This 
is called mapping-out. 

Let us take two simple sentences : — 

(i) " From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some person 

whistling. " 
(ii) "In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, 

Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pr6 

Lay in the fruitful valley." 

28. These may be mapped out, before analysing them, in the 
following way : — 







joyous 




(i)A 


SOUND 


CAME 




la 


1 


seme person whistling* 


the mountain path. 


distant, 


secluded, still. 




little 






little 
(ii) The VILLAGE 


LAY 
distant, secluded, still 








'"■"■■.* 




;S. 


&/ ''• 


•■% ""■■■ 

the fruitful Talley. 


Grant 


l-Pre 


the Acadian land the shores of the Basin, etc. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 



101 



FORMS OF ANALYSIS. 

29. The sentences may then be analysed in either — 

(a) the Detailed form. 
or (b) the Tabular form. 

(a) The Detailed form is analogous to that adopted for parsing, 
and gives us scope for subdividing the sentence to an unlimited extent, 
and giving the maximum amount of detail. 

(b) The Tabular form does not provide for so much detail, but it 
has the advantage of great clearness, and, as it greatly facilitates the 
examination of an exercise, it is the form usually preferred by public 
examiners. 



30. 



Detailed Analysis. 



(i) a. A sound 

b. joyous 

c. of some person 

d. came 

e. from the path 

/. mountain 

(ii) a. The village 

b. little 

c. distant ^ 

d. secluded V 

e. still J 

/. ofGrand-Pre 

0. lay 

h. in the land 

i. Acadian 

j. on the shores 

k. of the basin 

1. of Minas 

m. in the valley 

n. fruitf"! 



Subject. 

Adjectival Enlargement of Subject, 
whistling Prepositional Phrase, Enlargement 

of Subject. 
Predicate. 
Extension of Predicate. Place 

whence. 
Adjectival Enlargement of e. 

Subject. 

Adjectival Enlargement of Subject. 

Part of the Predicate. 

Prepositional Phrase, Enlargement 

of Subject. 
Predicate. 
Extension of Predicate. Place 

where. 
Adjectival Enlargement of h. 
Extension of Predicate. Place 

where. 
Prepositional phrase, enlarging.;*. 

9- 5> »> *' 

Extension of Predicate. Place 

where. 
Adjectival Enlargement of m. 



102 
31. 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Tabular Analysis. 





Enlarge- 






Enlarge- 


Extension 


Subject. 


ment op 


Predicate. 


Object. 


ment OF 


OF 




Subject. 






Object. 


Predicate. 


A sound 


(a) joyous 

(b) of some 
person 

whistling 


came 






from the 
mountain 
path {place 
whence) 


The village 


(a) little 


lay 






(a) in the 




(b)of 


(distant, 






Acadian 




Grand-Pre* 


secluded, 
still) 






land 

{place 

where) 

(b) on the 
shores of 
the Basin 
of Minas 
{place 
where) 

(c) in the 
fruitful 
valley 
{place 
where) 



II.— THE COMPLEX SENTENCE. 



32. A Complex Sentence is a statement which contains one 
Principal Sentence, and one or more sentences dependent upon 
it, which are called Subordinate Sentences. There are three 
kinds — and there can be only three kinds— of subordinate 
sentences — Adjectival, Noun, and Adverbial. 

A subordinate sentence is sometimes called a clause. 

33. A Subordinate Sentence that goes with a Noun or 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 103 

Pronoun fulfils the function of an Adjective, is equal to an 
Adjective, and is therefore called an Adjectival Sentence. 

" Darkness, which might be felt, fell upon the city." Here the 
clause, "which-might-be-felt," goes with the noun darkness, belongs 
to it, and cannot be separated from it ; and this sentence is therefore 
an adjectival sentence. 

34. A Subordinate Sentence that goes with a Verb fulfils 
the function of an Adverb, is equal to an Adverb, and is 
therefore called an Adverbial Sentence. 

"I will go whenever you are ready." Here the clause, "whenever 
you are ready," is attached to the verb go, belongs to it, and cannot be 
separated from it ; and hence this sentence is an adverbial sentence. 

35. A Subordinate Sentence that forms the Subject of a 
Predicate, or the Object, or that is in apposition with a noun, 
fulfils the function of a Noun, and is therefore called a Noun 
Sentence. 

"He told me that his cousin had gone to sea." Here the clause 
"his cousin had gone to sea," is the object of the transitive verb told. 
It fulfils the function of a noun, and is therefore a noun sentence. 

36. An Adjectival Sentence may be attached to — 

(i) The Subject of the Principal Sentence ; or to 
(ii) The Object of the Principal Sentence ; or to 
(iii) Any Noun or Pronoun. 

(i) The book that-I-bought is on the table : to the subject. 
(ii) I laid the book-I-bought on the table : to the object, 
(iii) The child fell into the stream that-runs-past-the-mill : to the 
noun stream — a noun in an adverbial phrase. 

37. Note. — (i) As may in certain cases be regarded as a 

relative introducing an Adjectival Sentence. In 
such cases it is usually a correlative of such or 
same. 

I never saw such fish as he caught in the Avon. 
This is the same bag as you gave me last year. 



104 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(ii) But in certain cases may be taken as a negative rela- 
tive introducing an Adjectival Sentence. 

(a) There is no man here "but loves you. 
This= " There is no man here who does not love you." 

(b) " No land but listens to the common call." 
" But " is equivalent to " which does not." 

38. An Adverbial Sentence may be attached to — 

(i) A Verb ; 

(ii) An Adjective ; or to 
(iii) An Adverb. 

(i) To a Verb. It does not matter in what position the verb is. 
It may be (a) the Predicate, as in the sentence, "I walk when I 
can." It may be (b) an Infinitive forming a subject, as, " To get up 
when one is tired is not pleasant." It may be (c) a participle, as in 
the sentence, " Having dined before he came, I started at once." 

(ii) To an Adjective. "His grief was such that all pitied him." 
Here the clause "that all pitied him" modifies the adjective such. 

(iii) To an Adverb. "He was so weak that he could not stahd." 
Here the clause "that he could not stand" modifies the adverb so, 
which itself modifies the adjective weak. 

39. Just as there are many classes of Adverbs, so there are 
nany different kinds of Adverbial Sentences. 

(i) Time. I will go, when you return, 
(ii) Place. Where the bee sucks, there suck I. 
(iii) Manner. He strode, as though he were in pain. 
(iv) Degree. I spoke as loudly as I could (speak), 
(v) Proportion. The sooner you complete your 

task the sooner you can leave, 
(vi) Condition. If you stand by me, I will oppose 

him. 
(vii) Concession — Provided this is done, I will consent, 
(viii) Cause. Avoid him, because he is dishonest, 
(ix) Effect or Consequence. I carefully tended him; 

consequently the wound soon healed, 
(x) Purpose. He worked very hard, for he wished 
to do well. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 105 

Cautions : — 

(i) In nearly every case the word introducing the ad* 
verhial sentence, as -when, -where, if, etc., helps 
us to recognise it, but occasionally there is no 
introductory word, and we must judge by the 
sense alone. 

In the sentence — 

" Pass that line, and I fire upon you," 
it is evident that the first clause is Adverbial, and that the real 
meaning would be accurately expressed by the form ' ' If you pass 
that line," etc. 

(ii) 

"Ye meaner fowl, give place, 
I am all splendour, dignity, and grace." 
Here the second sentence is Adverbial to the first, and sense 
demands " for," " because," or " since," as a connecting word. 

(iii) Avoid the mistake of calling a sentence Adverbial 
simply because it begins with an adverb. 
" First (he) loves to do, then loves the good he does." 
The second sentence is not adverbial, but co-ordinate with the 
first. 

40. Adjectival and Adverbial Sentences are easily recognised 
from the fact that they have no complete meaning in them- 
selves apart from the Principal Sentence to which they are 
attached. Of some Principal Sentences — as, e.g., those begin- 
ning with who, which, etc. — the same thing may be said, but 
in the vast majority of cases a Principal Sentence is independent 
in sense and self-contained in meaning. 
Take two of the sentences given above. 

" Which might be felt. " (Adjectival. ) 

" When I can." (Adverbial. ) 

Their incompleteness is at once perceived. Their function is 
to qualify, extend, modify, or limit the master sentence to 
which they are attached ; they are distinctly subordinative. 

The subordinate character of Noun-sentences is best per- 
ceived when they are introduced by their ordinary connective 
"that"; in other cases their true nature maybe recognised 
from their relationship to the principal sentence. 



106 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

41. A Noun Sentence may be — 

(i) The Subject of the Principal Sentence ; or 

(ii) The Object of the main verb ; or 

(iii) The Nominative after is; or 

(iv) In Apposition with another Noun. 

(i) " That-he-is-better cannot be denied": the subject. Her* 
the true nominative is tbat. " That cannot be denied." What? 
" That = he is better." (From usage that in such sentences acquires 
the function and force of a conjunction. ) 

(ii) " I heard that-he-was-better : " the object. 

(iii) "My motive in going was that-I-might-be-of-use " : nomina- 
tive after was. 

(iv) "The fact that-he-voted-against-his-party is well known": 
in apposition with fact. 

Impersonal Construction — 

And methought, while she liberty sang, 

'Twas liberty only to hear. 
" 'Twas-liberty-only-to-hear " is a Noun sentence, subject to the 
impersonal verb "methought," and forming with it a principal 
sentence. 

42. Any number of Subordinate Sentences may be attached 
to the Principal Sentence. The only limit is that dictated by 
a regard to clearness, to the balance of clauses, or to good taste. 

The best example of a very long sentence, which consists entirely 
of one principal sentence and a very large number of adjective 
sentences, is "The House that Jack built." "This is the house 
that- Jack-built. " " This is the malt that-lay-in-the-house-that- Jack- 
built," and so on. 

Co-ordinate Subordinate Sentences. Two or more subor- 
dinate sentences of the same kind may be attached to the 
same principal sentence. 

Type of the wise, who soar but (who) never roam. 
If the day be fine and (if) I am free, I will go over the common. 
John knew that the farmer had cut his corn and (that he had) 
stacked it. 

In the first sentences we have two Adjectival sentences, subordin- 
ate to the principal and co-ordinate with one another. In the other 
sentence we have Adverbial and Noun-sentences of a corresponding 
character. The words within parentheses are understood and 
$hould be shown in your analysis. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 107 

43. Principal and Subordinate. The same sentence may 
be subordinate to a principal sentence, and at the same time 
principal to another sentence. 

The man who hesitates when danger is at hand, is lost. 

The sentence "who hesitates" is adjectival to the principal 
sentence, and principal to "when danger is at hand." 

The sentence would not be properly analysed unless its twofold 
character and relationship were fully shown. 

Compare : — Tell her that wastes her time and me, 
That now she knows, 
When I resemble her to thee, 
How sweet and fair she seems to be. 

44. Connectives : — 

(i) Care must be taken to associate introductory and 
connective "words with their proper sentences ; 
otherwise confusion will result and the nature 
of the sentences may be misunderstood. 

Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules 
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king. 

The Principal sentence here is " Yet he is more a king." 

Thus, while I ape the measure wild 
Of tales that charmed me as a child, 
Rude though they be, still with the chime 
Return the thoughts of early time. 

"Thus " in the first line introduces the principal sentence " Still 
. . time." 

Note the inversion in "Rude though they be," and remember 
that inversions are very common in poetry. 

CAUTIONS IN THE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX 

SENTENCES. 

45. (i) Find out, first of all, the Principal Sentence. 

(ii) Secondly, if the sentence is complicated or of 
more than average difficulty, look out the finite 
verbs ; these are the kernels of the various sen- 
tences ; remember that each finite verb means 
a sentence. When you are sure of your verbs 
you will be able to connect with each its sub- 
ject, object, and extensions. 



108 GRAMMAK OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(iii) Thirdly, look for the sentences, if any, that attach 
themselves to the Subject of the Principal Sen- 
tence. 

(iv) Fourthly, find those sentences, if any, that belong 
to the Object of the Principal Sentence, or to 
any other Noun or Pronoun in it. 

(v) Fifthly, look for the subordinate sentences that 
are attached to the Predicate of the Principal 
Sentence. 

When a subordinate sentence is long, quote only the first and last 
words, and place dots .... between them. 

46. The following Cautions are necessary : — 

(i) A connective may be omitted. 

In Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," Isabella says — 

"I have a brother is condemned to die." 

Here who is omitted, and "who . . . die" is an adjectival sen- 
tence qualifying the object brother. 

(ii) Do not be guided by the part of speech that in- 
troduces a subordinate sentence. Thus :^— 

(a) A relative pronoun may introduce a noun sentence, as, " I do 
not know who-he-is " ; or an adjectival sentence, as, "John, who- 
was-a-soldier, is now a gardener." 

(b) An adverb may introduce a noun sentence, as, "I don't 
know where it has gone to ; " or an adjectival sentence, as, " The 
spot where he lies is unknown." In the sentence, " The reason why 
so few marriages are happy is because young ladies spend their time 
in making nets, not in making cages" — the subordinate sentence 
" why . . . happy" is — though introduced by an adverb — in appo- 
sition to the noun reason, and is therefore a noun sentence. 

(iii) It is sometimes difficult to decide whether a given 

sentence is Adjectival or Noun. 

Whoever first reaches the fort gains the prize. 
I will reward whoever first reaches the fort. 

In these sentences some would prefer to regard the subordinate 
sentence as qualifying "he" or "him," and would class them as 
adjectival, but, inasmuch as they stand in the one case for subject 
and in the other for object, it is preferable to take them as noun 
sentences. 

We speak that we do know. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 109 

Here, instead of taking ' ' that we do know " as a noun sentence, it 
is better to split up ' ' that " (a compound relative) into ' ' that which " 
and take "which we do know " as an Adjectival sentence. 

THE MAPPING-OUT OF COMPLEX SENTENCES. 

47. Complex Sentences should be mapped out on the same 
principles as Simple Sentences. Let us take a sentence from 
Mr Morris's " Jason " : — 

' ' And in his hand he bare a mighty bow, 
No man could bend of those that battle now." 
This sentence may be drawn up after the following plan : — 
his hand 

.2 a mighty 

He bare bow 

o 

1 

no man could bend 

<4-l 

o 
those 

o 

battle now. 

(The single line indicates a preposition ; the double line a con- 
junction or conjunctive pronoun. ) 

48. The larger number of subordinate sentences there are, 
and the farther away they stand from the principal sentence, 
the larger will be the space that the mapping-out will cover. 

Let us take this sentence from an old Greek writer : — 

"Thou art about, king! to make war against men who wear 
leathern trousers, and have all their other garments of leather ; who 
feed not on what they like, but on what they can get from a soil 
that is sterile and unkindly ; who do not indulge in wine, but drink 
water ; who possess no figs, nor anything else that is good to eat. " 
This would be set out in the following way : — 
Thou art about . . . against men 
o 

(i) wear . . . trousers 
(ii) have . . . leather 
(iii) feed not on that 

(a) they like 



110 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



(iv) feed on that 

i 

(b) they car 


get from a soil 

cell 


-£ II 

(b 1 ) is sterile and unkindly 
(v) do not . . . wine 


(vi) drink water 


(vii) possess no figs 
(viii) possess not anything else 




5 
5 





(c) is good to eat. 

49. Sentences may also be pigeon-holed, or placed in marked- 
off spaces or columns, like the following : — 

"Thro' the black Tartar tents he passed, which stood 
Clustering like bee-hives on the low black strand 
Of Oxus, where the summer floods o'erflow 
When the sun melts the snow in high Pamir. * 



Sentences. 



Kind of 

\Sentence. 



A. He passed 
through the 
black Tartar 
tents 

(a) which clus- 
tering like 
bee - hives 
stood on the 
strand of 
Oxus, 



(b) [intheplace] 
which the 
floods o'er- 
flow 



(c) when 
melts 



A. Prin. 
sentence. 



(a) Adj. 
sen- 
tence 
to A. 



(b)Adj. 
sent. 
to 

place 
under- 
stood 

(c) Adv. 

sent, 
to o'er- 
flow 



Subject. 



He 



which 



floods 



the sun 



Enlarge- 



cluster- 
ing 



the sum- 
mer 



Predi- 
cate. 



stood 



o'erflow 



melts 



Exten- 
sion. 



thro' the 
tents 



on the 
low 
black 
strand 



when in 
high 
Pamir 



Object. 



(which) 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. Ill 

50. There is a kind of Continuous Analysis, which may 
often — not without benefit — be applied to longer passages, and 
especially to passages taken from the poets. For example : — 

"Alas ! the meanest herb that scents the gale, 
The lowliest flower that blossoms in the vale 
Even where it dies, at spring's sweet call renews 
To second life its odours and its hues." 

1. Alas ! an interjection, with no syntactical relation to any word 

in the sentence. 

2. the meanest, attributive or enlargement to 3. 

3. herb, Subject to 4. 

4. renews, Predicate to 3. 

5. odours and hues, Object to 4. , 

6. at . . . call, Extension of renews, to 4. 

7. to . . . life, Extension of renews, to 4. 



Bh 



8. the lowliest, attributive or enlargement to 9. 

9. flower, Subject to 10. 

10. renews, Predicate to 9. 

11. odours and hues, Object to 10. 

12. at . . . call, Extension to 10. 

13. to . . . life, Extension to 10. 

14. that, Subject to 15 and connective to 3. 

15. scents, Predicate to 14. 

16. gale, Object to 15. 

. that, Subject to 18 and connective to 9. 
blossoms, Predicate to 17. 
the vale, Extension to 18. 



H7. th 

DJ18. bl 

1 19. in 



T20. even,' Adverb modifying 21. 

E J 21. where it dies, Extension to 18. 

I 22. it, Subject of 23. 

123. dies, Predicate of 22. 

Ill— THE COMPOUND SENTENCE. 

51. A Compound Sentence is one which consists of two 
or more Simple Sentences packed, for convenience' sake, into 
one. 

T^hus, in the " Lay of the Last Minstrel," Sir Walter Scott writes : — 

" The way was long, the wind was cold, 
The minstrel was infirm and old." 

He might have put a full stop at long and at cold, for the sense ends 



112 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

in these places, and, grammatically, the two lines form three 
separate and distinct sentences. But because in thought the three 
are connected, the poet made one compound sentence out of the three 
simple sentences. 

52. A Compound Sentence may be contracted. 

(i) If we say, "John jumped up and ran off, the sentence is = 
"John jumped up"+"John ran off." It is therefore a compound 
sentence consisting of two simple sentences, but, for convenience 
sake, contracted in the subject. 

It may be taken as a Compound Contracted Sentence, and should 
be analysed as two connected sentences. 

Compare : — And out again I curve and flow 
To join the brimming river, 
(ii) In the sentence, "Either a knave or a fool has done this," 
the sentence is contracted in the predicate for the purpose of avoid- 
ing the repetition of the verb has done. 

(iii) In "The troops caught, and the King executed the rebels," 
the sentence is contracted in the object, "the rebels" being the 
object of both sentences. 
(iv) Sometimes both Subject and Predicate are omitted, as — 
"Who grewest not alone in power 
And knowledge ; but from hour to hour 
In reverence and in charity. " 
Here "who grewest " must be inserted after " but." 

(v) Some sentences require modification or addition before they 
can be satisfactorily analysed. 

* ' No land but listens to the common call, 
And in return receives supply from all." 
This may be rendered 

There is no land | which listens not to the common call, | 
And which in return receives not supply from all." 
Alterations, however, should never be made unless they are un* 
avoidable. 

CO-ORDINATE SENTENCES. 

•53. The Principal Co-ordinate Sentences of a Compound 
Sentence are connected in various ways by different classes of 
Conjunctions. The relationship of a sentence to a co-ordinate 
one preceding it is either — 

(a) Copulative or continuative. 

(b) Disjunctive. 

(c) Adversative. 

(d) Illative. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 113 

54. A Copulative Sentence is so connected with a preceding 
one that the idea expressed by it agrees with or simply carries 
further the thought going before. 

Each change of many-coloured life he drew, 
Exhausted worlds, and then imagined new. 
The connectives of copulative sentences are : And, also, likewise, 

moreover, further, furthermore ; and correlatives such as : both — 

and ; not merely — but, etc. 

note (i) The sense of the sentences and their relationship to one 
another must be the chief guide in deciding the nature of the con- 
nection. In many cases the connecting word in itself is mis- 
leading. 

We met a man at the gate, who told us the way. 
Here the function of the sentence "who told," etc., is not to 
qualify the preceding sentence, but to express an additional fact, 
which is co-ordinate with the preceding. Who = and he, and is 
really copulative. 

(ii) He was not at home, which was a great pity. 
' ' Which " does not introduce a subordinate qualifying sentence, 
but is really copulative, introducing a co-ordinate sentence. It is 
equivalent to " and this." 

(iii) Nor and neither, when they are equivalent to " are not," are 
copulative. 

The enemy will not fight, nor will they even prepare for battle. 
They refused to pay, neither did they offer to explain. 

(iv) While and whilst are sometimes only copulative — 

"The greater number laid their foreheads in the dust, whilst a 
profound silence prevailed over all." 

The second sentence is noway subordinate to the first ; it is not 
used to modify the first adverbially in regard to time, but to 
introduce a sentence of equal rank, the two sentences being 
co-ordinate. 

(v) Sometimes the connective is entirely omitted, but the logical 
connection of the sentences shows that the second is co-ordinate with, 
and stands in copulative connection with, the first. 

Her court was pure ; her life serene ; 

God gave her peace ; her land reposed. 

55. A Disjunctive Sentence is a sentence which implies 
exclusion, or presents an alternative to the one before it. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be. 

The breath of heaven must swell the sail, 

Or all the toil is lost. 



114 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

The connectives of disjunctive sentences are : Either, or ; neither, 
nor ; and sometimes " else " and "otherwise." 

56. An Adversative Sentence is one which expresses an 
idea in opposition to or in contrast with that of a pre- 
ceding one. 

To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given ; 
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven. 

The connectives of adversative sentences are : But, however, never- 
theless, notwithstanding, only, still, yet ; and such correlatives as : 
on the one hand — on the other hand, now — then. 

note. — Sometimes the connective is not expressed : 

They resent your honesty for an instant ; they will thank you for 
it always. 

57. An Illative Sentence expresses a reason or inference in 

reference to one before it. Illative sentences may be — 

(a) Illative Proper : when the idea expressed is a natural inference 

from or implied consequence of what is previously expressed. 

The leaves are falling ; therefore the swallows will soon be gone. 

(b) Causative : when the idea expressed forms the grounds of a 

certain inference expressed in the preceding sentence. 

The swallows will soon be gone ; for the leaves are falling. 
The connectives are (a) Illative Proper : Therefore, hence, so, con- 
sequently, etc. 
(b) Causative : For. 

Caution. — Great care is necessary in distinguishing be- 
tween an Illative Sentence and an Adverbial Sentence of 
Consequence. 

Thus in the sentence, The leaves are falling ; therefore the swallows 
will soon be gone, the second sentence is a fair inference from, but not 
a necessary consequence of, the first, and is an Illative Sentence. 

Whereas in the sentence, The leaves are falling ; therefore the trees 
will soon be bare, the second sentence is a necessary consequence of 
the first, and is an Adverbial Sentence of Effect or Consequence. 

The student may draw for himself a corresponding distinction be. 
tween 

The swallows will soon be gone ; for the leaves are falling, 
. and 

The trees will soon be bare ; for the leaves are falling. 



THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 115 

58. Note. — (i) In some cases an introductory " for " is 

simply a preposition, and the sentence is neither Illative 

nor Adverbial. 

For pathless marsh and mountain cell 
The peasant left his lonely shed. 

(ii) The connection in the following is exceptional : — 

And out again I curve and flow 

To join the brimming river ; 
For men may come, and men may go, 

But I go on for ever. 

"For men may come" is neither an Illative nor an Adverbial 
Sentence, but a co-ordinate sentence, copulative to the preceding 
ones. 

In Illative Sentences the connective is very rarely omitted, but 
examples are not unknown. 

Milton ! thou shouldst be living at this hour : 
England hath need of thee ; she is a fen 
Of stagnant waters. 

The second and third sentences are in illative relationship to the 
first ; they give the grounds of the first statement, and might fitly 
begin with for. 

PARENTHETICAL SENTENCES. 

59. Sometimes sentences are interposed in a way that com- 
plicates the analysis. 

These are the very people who you thought were lost. 

Here " who were lost " is really a noun sentence to its principal 
"you thought"; but it is an adjectival sentence to the real prin- 
cipal " These are the very people. " ' ' You thought " is therefore best 
taken as a parenthetical sentence, having a principal relationship to 
" who were lost." 

In other cases the relationship of the interposed sentence to the 
rest of the sentence is less clear. 

Then I stood up — and I was scarcely conscious of my surroundings 
— and fired my gun. 

The interposed sentence may be regarded as principal and co- 
ordinate with the other two, but on account of its loose relationship 
it is better taken as simply " parenthetical." 



WORD-BUILDING AND DERIVATION. 

1. The primary element — that which is the shortest form — 
of a word is called its root. Thus tal (which means number) is 
the root of the words tale and tell 

2. The stem is the root + some modification. Thus love 
( = lov + e) is the stem of lov. 

3. It is to the stem that inflexions are added, and thus to 
love we add d for the past tense. 

4. If to the root we add a suffix, then the word so formed is 
called a derivative. Thus by adding ling to dar ( = dear), 
we make darling. 

5. In general, we add English prefixes and English suffixes 
to English words; but this is not always the case. Thus we 
have cottage, where the Latin ending age is added to the Eng- 
lish word cot; and covetousness, where the English ending 
ness is added to the Latin word covetous. Such words are 
called hybrids. 

6. When two words are put together to make one, the one 
word so made is called a compound. 

7. The adding of prefixes or of suffixes to words, or the 
making one word out of two, is called word-formation. 

COMPOUND NOUNS. 

8. Compound Nouns are formed by the addition of : — 
(i) Noun and Noun, as — 

Bandog ( = bond-dog). Brimstone ( = burn-stone). 

Bridal ( = bride-ale). Bylaw ( = law for a by or town). 



COMPOUND ADJECTIVES. 



117 



Daisy ( = day's eye). 

Evensong. 

Garlic (= gar-leek = spear -leek ; 

O.E. gar, spear). 
Gospel ( = God's spell = story). 
Housetop. 

Huzzy ( = housewife). 
Icicle ( = is-gicel = ice-jag). 

(ii) Noun and Adjective, as — 

Blackbird. Midnight. 

Freeman. Midsummer 



Lapwing ( = leap-wing). 
Nightingale ( = night-singer). 
Orchard ( = ort-yard = wort-yard, i.e., 

herb-garden). 
Stirrup ( = stig-rap = rising rope). 
Tadpole (= toad-head. Pole = poll, a 

head, as in poll-tax). 
"Wednesday (= Woden's day). 

Quicksilver. 

Twilight ( = two lights). 



t3T Black'bird has the accent on black, and is one word. A blackfbird need not be : 
Hack 1 bird'. 



(iii) Noun and Verb, as — 

Bakehouse. Grindstone. 

Cutpurse. Pickpocket. 

Godsend. Pinfold. 

(iv) Noun and Adverb, as offshoot. 

(v) Noun and Preposition, as afterthought. 

(vi) Verb and Adverb, as — 

Castaway. Drawback. 



Welfare. 



Farewell. 



Spendthrift. 

Wagtail. 

Waahtub. 



Income. 
Welcome. 



COMPOUND ADJECTIVES. 

9. There are in the language a great many compound adjec- 
tives, such as Jieart-ivhole, seasick, etc.; and these are formed 
in a large number of different ways. 

Compound adjectives may be formed in the following ways : — 

(i) Noun + Adjective, as purse-proud, wind-swift, way-weary, sea- 
green, lily-white. 

(ii) Noun + Present Participle, as ear-piercing, death-boding, heart- 
rending, spirit-stirring, sea-faring, night- walking, home-keeping. 

(iii) Noun + Passive Participle, as moth-eaten, worm-eaten, tempest- 
tossed, way- laid, forest-born, copper-fastened, moss-clad, sea-girt. 

(iv) Adverb + Present Participle, as far-darting, everlasting, high- 
stepping, well-meaning, long-suffering, far-reaching, hard-working. 

(v) Adverb + Passive Participle, as high-born, "ill-weaved," well-bred, 
thorough-bred, high-strung, ill-pleased. 



118 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

(vi) Noun + Noun + ed, as hare-brained, dog-hearted, beetle-headed, 
periwig-pated, club-footed, lily-livered, trumpet-tongued, eagle-eyed. 

(vii) Adjective + Noun + ed, as evil-eyed, grey-headed, thin-faced, 
empty-headed, tender-hearted, thick-lipped, two-legged, three-cornered, 
four-sided, high-minded, bald-pated. 

(viii) Noun + Noun, as bare-foot, lion-heart, iron-side. 

(ix) Adverb + Noun + ed, as down-hearted, under-handed. 

COMPOUND VERBS. 

10. There are not many compound verbs in the English 
language. The few that there are are formed thus : — 

(i) Verb and Noun, as — 

Backbite. Hamstring. Hoodwink. 

Browbeat. Henpeck. Kiln-dry. 

(ii) Verb and Adjective, as— 

Dumfound. Fulfil ( = fill full). Whitewash, 

(iii) Verb and Adverb, as — 
Doff ( = do off). Dout ( = do out). Cross-question. 

Don ( = do on). Dup ( = do up). Outdo. 

THE FORMATION OF ADVERBS. 

11. Adverbs are derived from Nouns, from Adjectives, from 
Pronouns, and from Prepositions. 

a. Adverbs derived from Nouns are either : (i) Old Posses- 

sives, or (ii) Old Datives, or (iii) Compounds of a Noun and 

a Preposition : — 

(i) Old! Possessives : Needs = of need, or of necessity. The Calendrer 
says to John Gilpin about his hat and wig — 

" My head is twice as big as yours, 
They therefore needs must fit." 

Of the same class are : always, nowadays, betimes. 

(ii) Old Datives. These are seldom and the old-fashioned whilom 
( = in old times). 

(iii) Compounds: anon = (in one moment), abed ( = on bed) asleep, 
aloft, abroad, indeed, of a truth, by turns, perchance, perhaps. 

b. Adverbs derived from Adjectives are either : (i) Old 
Possessives, or (ii) Old Datives, or (iii) Compounds of an 
Adjective and a Preposition : — 

(i) Old Possessives: else (ell-es, possessive of aZ= other), unawares, 
once (=onee), twice, thrice, etc. 



PREFIXES. 



11» 



(ii) Old Datives. The old English way of forming an adverb was 
simply to use the dative case of the adjective — which ended in e. Thus 
we had deep§, brighte, for deeply and brightly. Then the e dropped 
away. Hence it is that there are in English several adverbs exactly 
like adjectives. These are : fast, hard, right (in " Right Reverend "), 
far, ill, late, early, loud, high, etc. 

(iii) Compounds of an Adjective and a Preposition : on high, in 
vain, in short, at large, of late, etc. 

c. Adverbs derived from Pronouns come from the pronominal 
stems : who, the (or this), and he. The following is a table, 
and it is important to note the beautiful correspondences : — 



Pronominal 
Stems. 


Place 
In. 


Place 
To. 


Place 
From. 


Time 
In. 


Manner. 


Cause. 


Wh-o 


Whe-re 


Whi-ther 


Whence 


Whe-n 


Ho-W 


Wh-y 


Th-e or th-is 


The-re 


Thi-ther 


The-nce 


The-n 


Th-us 


Th-e 


He 


He-re 


Hi-ther 


He-nce 









(i) How and why are two forms of the same word — the instrumental 
case of who. How = in what way ? Why = with what reason ? 

(ii) The, in the last column, is the adverbial the (A.S. thy) before a 
comparative. It is the instrumental case of that (A.S. thaet). "The 
more, the merrier "= by that more, by that merrier. That is, the 
measure of the increase in the number is the measure of the increase in 
the merriment. 



d. Compound Adverbs are formed by adding together — 
(i) Noun and Noun, as lengthways, endways, 
(ii) Noun and Adjective, as — 

Always. Head-foremost. Otherwise. 

Breast-high. Meanwhile. Sometimes, 

(iii) Preposition and Noun, as Aboveboard, outside. 
(iv) Adverb and Preposition, as — 

Hereafter. Therein. Whereupon. 



PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES. 

12. The Prefixes used in our language are of English, French, 
Latin, and Greek origin. 

(i) French is only a modified Latin. Hence French prefixes fall 
naturally under Latin prefixes, as the one is only a form of the other. 



120 GRAMMAK OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

13. English Prefixes are divided into Inseparable and 
Separable. Inseparable Prefixes are those that have no mean- 
ing by themselves and cannot be used apart from another word. 
Separable Prefixes may be used and are used as independent 
words. 

14. The following are the most important 

English Inseparable Prefixes: — 

1. A (a broken-down form of O.E. an = on), as — 

Abed. Aloft ( = in the lift or sky). A-building. 

Aboard. Away. Athwart. 

2. Be (an O.E. form of by), which has several functions : — 

(i) To add an intensive force to transitive verbs, as — 

Bedaub. Beseech Besmear. 

Besprinkle. ( = beseek). Besmirch. 

(ii) To turn intransitive verbs into transitive, as — 

Bemoan. Bespeak. Bethink. 

(iii) To make verbs out of nouns or adjectives, as — 

Befriend. Beguile. Benumb. Betroth. 

Besiege ( = to take a siege or seat beside a town till it surrenders). 

(iv) To combine with nouns, as — 

Behalf. Bequest. Bypath. 

Behest. Byname. Byword. 

(v) To form part of prepositions and adverbs, as before, besides, etc. 

3. For (O.E. /or = Lat. per) means thoroughly, and has two func- 
tions : — 

(i) To add an intensive meaning, as in— - 

Forbid. Forget. Forswear. 

Fordone ( = ruined). Forgive. Forlorn ( = utterly lost). 

B8$T Forswear means to swear out and out, to swear to anything, hence falsely. 
Compare the Latin perjurare ; hence our perjure. 

(ii) To give a negative meaning, as in forgo (wrongly spelled forego), 
to go without. 

4. Fore = before ; as forebode, forecast. 

5. Gain (O.E. gegn, back, again),, found in gainsay (to speak 
against). 



PREFIXES. 121 

6. Mis (O.E. mis, wrong ; and connected with the verb to miss), 
as in — 

Misdeed. Mislead. Mistrust. Mistake. 

Caution. — When mis occurs in certain words of French origin, it is 
a shortened form of minus, less ; as in mischief, mischance, miscount, 
miscreant ( = non-believer). 

7. Un=not, as 

Unholy. Undo. Unbind. 

8. Wan (O.E. wan, wanting ; and connected with wane), which is 
found in — 

Wanton ( = wantowen, Wanhope ( = despair), 

lacking education). Wan trust. 

9. With (a shortened form of O.E. ivither = \>&ck. or against) is 
found in — 

Withstand. Withdraw. Withhold. 

iJST It exists also in a latent form in the word drawing -room = withdrawing- 



15. The following are the most important 

English Separable Prefixes : — 

1. After, which is found in — 

Aftergrowth. Aftermath (from mow). After dinner. 

2. All (O.E. al, quite), which is found in — 

Almighty. Alone (quite by one's self). Almost. 

3. Forth, found in forthcoming, etc. 

4. Fro (a shortened form of from), in froward. 

5. In appears in modern English in two forms, as : — 

(i) In, in — 

income. Insight. Instep. 

Inborn Inbred. Inlay. 

(ii) En or em (which is a Frenchified form), in — 

Endear. Entwine. Embolden. 

Enlighten. Embitter. 



!22 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



6. Of or off (which are two spellings of the same word), as- 

Offspring. Offset. 

Offshoot. Offal (that which falls off). 

7. On, as in onset, onslaught, onward. 

8. Out, which takes also the form of ut, as in — 



Outbreak. 
Outcast. 



Outside. 
Outpost. 



Utter. 
Utmost. 



Overhand. 
Over-proud. 

Overhear. 



9. Over (the comparative of the ove in above), which combines :— 
(i) With nouns, as in — 

Overcoat. Overflow, 

(ii) With adjectives, as in — 

Over-bold. Over-merry. 

(Shakespeare is very fond of such forms.) 
(iii) With verbs, as in — 

Overthrow. Overspread. 

10. Thorough or through, two forms of the same word, as in — 
Throughout. Through-train. Thorough-bred. Thoroughfare. 

Shakespeare has ' ' thorough bush, thorough brier, thorough flood, thorough fire. 

11. Twi = two, in twilight, twin, twist, etc. 

12. Under, which goes : — ■ 
(i) With verbs, as in — 

Underlie. Undersell, 

(ii) With nouns, as in — 

Underhand. Underground, 

(iii) With other words, as in — 
Underneath. 



Undergo. 



Undertone. 



Underlying. 



13. Up, which goes : — 






(i) With verbs, as in — 






Upbear. 


Upbraid. 


Uphold. 


(ii) With nouns, as in — 






Upland. 


Upstart. 


Upshot 


(iii) With other words, as 


in— 




Upright. 




Upward. 



PREFIXES. 123 

16. There are in use in our language many Latin Prefixes ; 
and many of them are of great service. Some of them, as 
circum (about), come to us direct from Latin ; others, like 
counter (against), have come to us through the medium of 
French. The following are the most important 

Latin Prefixes : — 

1. A, at), abs (Fr. a, av), away from, as in — 

Avert. Abjure. Absent. Abstain. 

Avaunt. Advantage (which ought to be avantage). 

2. Ad (Fr. a), to, which in composition becomes ac, af, ag, al, an, ap, 
ar, as, at, to assimilate with the first consonant of the root. The fol- 
lowing are examples of each : — 

Adapt. Affect. Accord. Agree. 

Aggression. Allude. Annex. Appeal. 

Arrive. Assimilate. Attain. Attend. 

tigr All these words come straight to us from Latin, except agree, arrive, and 
attain. The following are also French : Achieve (to bring to a chef or head), 
amount, acquaint. 

3. Amb, am (ambi, about), as in — 

Ambition. Ambiguous. Amputate. 

4. Ante (Fr. an), before, as in — 

Antedate. Antechamber. Ancestor (= antecessor). 

5. Bis, bi, twice, as in — 

Bisect. Biscuit ( = biscoctus, twice baked). 

6. Circum, circa, around, as in — 

Circumference. Circulate. Circuit. 

7. Cum, with, in French com, which becomes col, con, cor, coun, and 
CO before a vowel, as in — 

Compound. Collect. Content. Correct. 

Counsel. Countenance. Coeval. Cooperate. 

(i) In cost (from constare, to "stand"); couch (from colloco, I place); cull 
(from collego, I collect) ; and cousin (from consobrinus, the child of a mother's 
sister), the prefix has undergone great changes 

(ii) Co, though of Latin origin, can go with purely English words, as in co- 
worker. 

8. Contra (Fr. contre), against, which also becomes contro and 
30unter, as in — 

Contradict. Controvert. Counterbalance, 

(i) In counterweigh and counterwork we find it in union with English roots. 
Ii) In encounter we find it converted into a root. 



124 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

9. De (Fr. de), down, from, about, as in — 

Decline. Describe. Depart. 

It has also two different functions. It is — 
(i) negative in destroy, deform, desuetude, etc. 
(ii) intensive in desolate, desiccate (to dry up), etc. 

10. Dis, di (Fr. des, de), asunder, in two, as in — 

Dissimilar. Disarm. Dismember. 

Differ (s becomes f). Disease. Divorce. 

Defy. Defer. Delay. 

(i) Dis is also joined with English roots to make the hybrids disown, dislike, 
distrust, distaste. 

11. Ex, e (Fr. es, e), out of, from, as in — 

Exalt. Exhale. Expatriate (jpatria, one's country). 

Elect. Evade. Educe. 

(i) ex has a privative sense in ex-emperor, etc. 
(ii) In amend (emendo), astonish (etonner), the e is disguised, 
(iii) In sample (short for example), scorch (O. Fr. escorcer), and special (for 
especial), the e has fallen away. 

12. Extra, beyond, as in- 

Extraneous. Extraordinary. . Extravagant, 

(i) In stranger (O. Fr. estranger, from Lat. extraneus) the e has fallen away. 

13. In (Fr. en, em), in, into, which changes into il, im, ir, as in — 

Invade. Invent (to come upon). Infer. 

Illusion. Improve. Immigrate. 

Irritate. Irrigate. Irradiate. 

Enchant. Endure. Envoy. 

(i) It unites with English roots to make the hybrids embody, embolden, endear, 
entrust, enlighten, etc. 
(ii) In ambush (Ital. imboscarsi, to put one's self in a wood), the in is disguised. 

14. In, not, which becomes il, im, ir, and ig, as in — 

Inconvenient. Illiberal. Impious. Irrelevant. 

Incautious. Illegal. Impolitic. Ignoble. 

(i) The English prefix un sometimes takes its place, and forms hybrids with 
Latin roots in unable, unapt, uncomfortable. 
(ii) Shakespeare has unpossible, unproper, and many others. 

15. Inter, intro (Fr. entre), between, among — as in 

Intercede. Interpose. Interfere. 

Introduce. Entertain. Enterprise. 

16. Male (Fr. mau), ill, as in— 

Malediction, (contracted through French into) 
Malison (opposed to Benison). Maugre. 



PREFIXES. 125 

17. Mis (Fr. mes, from Latin minus), less, as in — 
Misadventure. Mischance. Mischief. 

Caution. — Not to be confounded with the English prefix mis in mis- 
take, mistrust, etc. 

18. Non, not, as in — 

Nonsense. Non-existent. Nonsuit. 

(i) The initial n has dropped off in umpire, formerly numpire — O. Fr. nonper= 
Lat. nonpar, not equal. 

(ii) The n has fallen away likewise from norange, napron (connected with nap- 
kin, napery), etc., by wrongly cleaving to the indefinite article a. 

19. Ob, against, becomes oc, of, op, etc., as in — 

Obtain. Occur. Offend. Oppose. 

20. Pene, almost, as in — 

Peninsula. Penultimate (the last but one). 

21. Per (Fr. par), through, which becomes pel, as in — 

Pellucid. Perform. Perjure. 

Perfect. Permit. Pilgrim. 

(i) Pilgrim comes from peregrinus, a person who wanders per agree, through 
the fields, — by the medium of Ital. pellegrino. 
(ii) Perhaps is a hybrid. 

22. Post, after, as in — 

Postpone. Postdate. Postscript. 

(i) The post is much disguised in puny, which comes from the French puis n€ 
=Lat. post natus, born after. A "puny judge" is a junior judge, or a judge of a 
later creation. - 

23. Prse, pre (Fr. pre), before, as in— 

Predict. Presume. Pretend. Prevent. 

(i) It is shortened into a pr in prize, prison, apprehend, comprise (all from pre- 
hendo, I seize). 

(ii) It is disguised in provost (prepositus, one placed over), in preach (from pras- 
dico, I speak before), and provender (from prazoeo, I furnish). 

24. Praeter, beyond, as in — 

Preternatural. Preterite (beyond the present). Pretermit. 

25. Pro (Fr. pour), which becomes pol, por, pur, as in— 
Pronoun. Proconsul. Procure. Protest. 
Pollute. Portrait. Pursue. Purchase. 

26. Re (Fr. re), back, again, which becomes red, as in — 
Rebel. Reclaim. Recover. Refer. 
Redeem. Redound. Readmit. Recreant. 

(i) It is much disguised in rally ( = re-ally), in ransom (a. shortened Fr. form of re- 
demption), and in runagate (=renegade, one who has denied — negavit — his faith), 
(ii) It combines with English roots to form the hybrids relay, reset, recall. 



126 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

27. Retro, backwards — as in retrograde, retrospect. 

(i) It is disguised in rear-guard (Ital. retro-gardia), rear, and arrears. 

28. Se (Fr. se), apart, which becomes sed, as in — 

Secede. Seclude. Seduce. Sedition. 

29. Sub (Fr. sous or sou), under, which becomes sue, suf, sud, sum, 
sup, sur, and sus, as in — 

Subtract. Succour. Suffer. Suggest. 

Summon. Supplant. Surrender. Suspend. 

(i) Sub is disguised in sojourn (from O. Fr. sojorner, from Low Latin subdiurnare), 
and in sudden (from Latin subitaneus). 

(ii) It combines with English roots to form the hybrids sublet, subworker, sub- 
kingdom, etc. 

30. Subter, beneath — as in subterfuge. 

31. Super (Fr. sur), above, as in — 

Supernatural. Superpose. Superscription. 

Surface (superficies). Surname. Surtout (over-all). 

(i) It is disguised in sovereign (which Milton more correctly spells sovran), from 
Low Latin superanus. 

32. Trans (Fr. tres), beyond, which becomes tra, as in — 
Translate. Transport. Transform. Transitive. 
Tradition. Traverse. Travel. Trespass. 

(i) It is disguised in treason (the Fr. form of tradition, from trado (=transdo), 
I give up), in betray and traitor (from the same Latin root), in trance and entrance 
(Latin transitus, a passing beyond), and in trestle (from Latin diminutive transtil- 
lum, a little cross-beam). 

33. Ultra, beyond, as in — 

Ultra-Liberal. Ultra-Tory. Ultramontane. 

(i) In outrage (O. Fr. oultrage) the ultra is disguised. 

34. Unus, one, which becomes un and uni, as in — 
Unanimous. Uniform. Unicorn. 

35. Vice (Fr. vice), in the place of, as in — 

Viceroy. Vicar. Vice-chancellor. Viscount. 

17. Our language possesses also a considerable number of 
prefixes transferred from the Greek language, many of which 
are very useful. The following are the most important 

Greek Prefixes : — 

1. An, a (av, d), not, as in — 

Anarchy. Anonymous. Apteryx (the wingless). Atheist. 

2. Amphi (a/*<pl), on both sides, as in — 

Amphibious. Amphitheatre. 



PREFIXES. 127 

3. Ana (dud), up, again, back, as in — 

Anatomy. Analysis. Anachronism. 

4. Anti {clvt'l), against or opposite to, as in — 

Antidote. Antipathy. Antipodes. Antarctic. 

5. Apo (oltt6), away from, which also becomes ap, as in — 

Apostate. Apostle. Apology. Aphelion. 

6. Arch, archi, arche (dpxv), chief, as in — 

Archbishop. Archangel. Architect. Archetype. 

7. Auto (clvt6s), self, which becomes auth, as in — 

Autocrat. Autograph. Autotype. Authentic. 

8. Cata, cat (Kara), down, as in — 

Catalogue. Catapult. Catechism. Cathedral. 

9. Dia (Sid), through, across, as in — 

Diameter. Diagram. Diagonal. 

(i) This prefix is disguised in devil— from Gr. diabolos, the accuser or slanderer, 
from Gr. diaballein, to throw across. 

10. Dis, di (8is), twice, as in — 

Dissyllable. Diphthong. Dilemma. 

11. Dys (5i;s), ill, as in — 

Dysentery. Dyspeptic (contrasts with Eupeptic). 

12. Ec, ex (ck, e|), out of, as in — 

Eccentric. Ecstasy. Exodus. Exotic. 

13. En (£v)-, in, which becomes el and em, as in — 

Encyclical. Encomium. Ellipse. Emphasis. 

14. Epi, ep {eiri), upon, as in — 

Epitaph. Epiphany. Epoch. Ephemeral. 

15. Eu (eu), well, which also becomes ev, as in — 

Euphemism. Eulogy. Evangelist. 

16. Hemi (w*0> h a h° as in — 

Hemisphere. Hemistich (half a line in poetry). 

17. Hyper (virip), over and above, as in — 

Hyperborean. Hyperbole. Hypercritical. Hypermetrical. 

18. Hypo, hyp (vir6), under, as in— 

Hypocrite. Hypotenuse. Hyphen. 

19. Meta, met (fxerd), after, changed for, as in — 

Metaphor. Metamorphosis. Metonymy. Method. 

20. Moao ; mon (/xoVo?), alone, as in — 

Monogram. Monody. Monad. Monk. 



128 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



21. Pan (irav), all, as in — 

Pantheist. Panacea. 



Panorama. 



Pantomime. 



22. Para {irapa), by the side of, which becomes par, as in- 



Paradox. 



Parallel. 



23. Peri (-repi), round, as in — 
Perimeter. Period. 



Parish. 



Perigee. 



Parody. 
Periphery. 



24. Pro {-n-po), before, as in — 

Prophet. Prologue. Proboscis. Problem. 

25. Pros {Trp6s), towards, as in — 

Prosody. Proselyte. 

26. Syn (<rvv), with, which becomes syl, sym, and sy, as in — 

Syntax. Synagogue. Syllable. 

Sympathy. Symbol. System. 

18. The Suffixes employed in the English language are much 
more numerous than the Prefixes, and much more useful. Like 
the Prefixes, they come to us from three sources — from Old 
English (or Anglo-Saxon) ; from Latin (or French) ; and from 
Greek. 

19. The following are the most important 

English Suffixes to Nouns : — 



1. Ard or art ( = habitual), as in — 

Braggart. Coward. Drunkard 

Laggard. Niggard. Sluggard. 

2. Craft (skill), as in — 

Leechcraf t ( == medicine). 
Woodcraft. 



Dullard. 
Wizard. 



Priestcraft. Witchcraft. 
Rimecraft (old name for Arithmetic). 



3. D, t or th (all being dentals), as in — 
(i) Blood (from blow, said Blade (from the same), 
of flowers). 



Flood (flow). 

(ii) Drift (drive). 
Flight (fly). 

Rift (rive). 

(iii) Aftermath (mow). 
Death (die). 
Mirth (merry). 



Seed (sow). 

Drought (dry). 
Height (high: Milton 
uses highth). 
Theft (thieve). 

Berth (bear). 

Earth (ear = plough). 

Sloth (slow). 



Deed (do). 

Thread (throw). 

Draught (draw). 
Shrift (shrive). 

Weft (weave). 

Dearth (dear). 
Health (heal). 
Tilth (till). 



SUFFIXES. 129 

4. Dom (O.E. d6m=doom), power, office, as in — 

Dukedom. Kingdom. Halidom (=holiness). 

Christendom. Thraldom. Wisdom. 

(i) In O.E. we had bisceopdom (=bishopdom); and Carlyle has accustomed us 
to rascaldom and scoitndreldom. 

5. En (a diminutive), as in — 

Chicken (cock). Kitten (cat). Maiden. 

(i) The addition of a syllable has a tendency to modify the preceding vowel— as 
in kitchen (from cook), vixen (from fox), and national (from nation). 

6. Er, which has three functions, to denote — 
(i) An agent, as in — 

Baker. Dealer. Leader. Writer. 

(ii) An instrument, as in — 

Finger (from O.E. fangan, to take). Stair (from stigan, to mount). 

£2T The ending er has become disguised in liar and sailor (not nailer, 
which is a ship), but not, however, in beggar, in which the suffix is 
not English at all. Beggar is derived from the Low Latin beg- 
hardus ; so burglar from the Low Latin burgulator. Under the 
influence of Norman-French, an i or y creeps in before the r, as in 
collier (from coal), lawyer, glazier (from glass), etc. 

7. Hood (O.E. had), state, rank, person, as in — 

Brotherhood. Childhood. Priesthood. Wifehood, 

(i) In Godhead, this suffix takes the form of head. 

8. Ing (originally = son of) part, as in — 

Farthing {fourth). Biding (trithing=lhirding). Tithing (tenth). 

(i) This suffix is found as a patronymic in many proper names, such as Brown,' 
ing. Harding; and in Kensington, Whittington , etc. 

(ii) Lording (=the son of a lord) and whiting (from white) are also diminutives. 

(iii) This ing is to be carefully distinguished from the ing (-ung) which was 
the old suffix for verbal nouns, as clothing, learning, etc. 

9. Kin (a diminutive), as in — 

Bodkin. Firkin (from four). Lambkin. Mannikin. 

(i) It is also found in proper names, as in Dawkins{ = little David), Jenkins 
(=son of little John), Hawkins ( = son of little Hal), Perkins (=son of little Peter). 

10. Ling= 1 + ing (both diminutives), as in — 

Darling (from dear). Duckling. Gosling {goose). 

Firstling. Hireling. Nestling. 

(i) Every diminutive has a tendency to run into depreciation, as in ground- 
ling, underling, worldling, etc. 



130 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

11. Le or 1, as in — 

Beadle (from beodan, to bid). Bundle (bind). Saddle (seat). 
Settle (seat). Nail. Sail. 

12. Lock (O.E. lac, gift, sport), which also becomes ledge, as in — 

Knowledge. Wedlock. Feohtldc (battle). 

(i) This is not to be confused with the lock and lick in the names of plants, 
which in O.E. was leac, and which we find in hemlock, charlock; garlick ( = spear 
plant) and barley ( = berelic). 

13. Ness forms abstract nouns from adjectives, as in — 

Darkness. Holiness. Weakness. Weariness. 

(i) Witness differs from the above in two respects : (a) it comes from a verb— 
witan, to know ; and (b) is not always an abstract noun. 

(ii) This English suffix combines very easily with foreign roots, as in acute- 
ness, commodiousness, graceful, ess, remoteness, and many others. 

14. Nd (which is the ending of the present participle in O.E.), found 
in — 

Friend (=the loving one). Fiend (=the hating one). 

Errand. Wind (from a root vd, to blow). 

15. Ock (a diminutive), as in — 

Bullock. Hillock. Ruddock (= redbreast), 

(i) In hawk ( = the seizer, from have) this suffix is disguised, 
(ii) It is also found in proper names, as in — 

Pollock (from Pawl). Maddox (from Matthew). Wilcox (from William). 

16. M or om, which forms nouns from verbs, as in— 

Bloom (from blow). Qualm (from quell). 

Gloom (from glow). Seam (from sew). 

Gleam (from glow). Team (from tow). 

(i) This suffix unites with the Norman-French word real (royal) to form the 
hybrid realm. 

17. Red (mode, fash on — and also counsel), as in — 

Hatred. Kindred. Sibrede (relationship). 

(i) This ending is also found in proper nouns. Thus we have Mildred— mild 
in counsel; Ethelred = noble in counsel, called also Unrede, which does not mean 
unready, but without counsel. 

18. Ric (O.E. rice, power, dominion") — as in bishopric, 
(i) In O.E. we had abbotric, hevenricke, and kingric. 

19. Ship (O.E. scipe, shape or form), which is also spelled scape 
and skip, makes abstract nouns, as in — 

Fellowship. Friendship. Lordship 

Landscape. Workmanship. Worship ( = worthship). 

(i) Milton writes landskip for landscape. 



SUFFIXES. 131 

20. Stead (O.E. stede, place), as in— 

Bedstead. Homestead. 

Hampstead. Berkhamstead. 

21. Ster was originally the feminine of er, the suffix for a male agent : 
it has now two functions : — 

(i) It denotes an agent, as in — 

Huckster (hawker). Maltster. 

Songster. Roadster. 

(ii) It has an element of depreciation in — 

Gamester. Punster. 

Oldster. Youngster. 

(iii) We had, in Old English, baxter (fern, of baker), webster (weaver), brewster, 
fithelstre (fiddler), seamestre (server), etc. Most of these are now used as proper 
names. 

(iv) Spinster is the feminine of spinner, one form of which was spinder, which 
then became spider. 

22. Wright (from work, by metathesis of the r), as in — 
Shipwright. Wainwright (= waggon wright). .Wheelwright. 

23. Ward, a keeper, as in — 

Hay ward. Steward (= sty -ward). Woodward. 

(i) Ward has also the Norman-French form of guard. 

(ii) In steward, the word stige or sty meant stall for horses, cows, etc. 

20. The following are the most important 

English Suffixes to Adjectives : — 

1. Ed or d, the ending for the passive participle, as in — 

Cold ( = chilled). Long-eared. Lauded. Talented. 

2. En, denoting material, as in — 

Golden. Silvern. Flaxen. Hempen. 

Oaken. Wooden. Silken. Linen (from lin, flax). 

3. En, the old ending for the passive participle, as in — 

Drunken. Forlorn. Molten. Hewn. 

4. Ern, denoting quarter, as in — 

Eastern. Western. Northern. Southern. 

5. Fast (O.E. faest, firm), as in — 

Steadfast. Rootfast. Shamefast (wrongly shamefaced). 

6. Fold (O.E. feald), as in- 

Twofold. Threefold. Manifold, 

(i) Simple, from Lat. simplex, has usurped the place of anfeald ^ onefold. 



132 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

7. Ful = full, as in- 

Hateful. Needful. Sinful. Wilful. 

8. Ish (O.E. isc) has three functions ; it denotes : — 
(i) Partaking in the nature of, as in — 

Boorish. Childish. Churlish. Waspish, 

(ii) A milder or sub-form of the quality, as in — 

Blackish. Greenish. Whitish. Goodish. 

(iii) A patrial relation, as in — 

English. Irish. Scottish. Welsh. 

9. Le, with a diminutive tendency, as in — 

Little (lyt). Brittle. Fickle. 

10. Less (O.E. leas), loose from, as in — 

Fearless. Helpless. Sinless. Toothless. 

11. Like (O.E. lie), softened in ly, as in- 

Childlike. Dovelike. Wifelike. Warlike. 

Godly. Manly. Womanly. Ghastly ( = ghostlike). 

12. Ow (O.E. u and wa), as in — 

Narrow. Callow. Fallow. Yellow. 

13. Right, with the sense of direction, as in — 

Forthright. Downright. Upright. 

14. Some (O.E. sum, a form of same, like), as in — 

Buxom (from bugan, Gladsome. Lissom ( = lithesome). 

to bend). 
Irksome. Gamesome. Winsome. 

15. Teen (O.E. tyne) = ten by addition, as in— 

Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. 

(i) In thirteen = three + ten, the r has changed its place by metathesis. 
(ii) In fifteen, the hard /has replaced the soft v. 

16. Ty (O.E. tig) = tens by multiplication, as in — 

Twenty ( = twain-ty). Thirty ( = ihree-ty). Forty. 

17. Ward (O.E. weard, from weorthan, to become), denoting direc- 
tion, as in — 

Fro ward (from). Toward. Untoward. 

Awkward (from awh, Homeward. Seaward, 

contrary). 

(i) This ending, ward, has no connection with ward, a keeper. It is connected 
With the verb worth in the line. "Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day ! " 



SUFFIXES. 133 

18. Y (O.E. ig, the guttural of which has vanished) forms adjectives 
from nouns and verbs, as in — 



Bloody. 


Crafty. 


Mighty. 


Silly. 


Dusty. 


Heavy (heave). 


Stony. 


Weary. 



21. The following are the most important 

English Suffixes for Adverbs : — 

t. Ere, denoting piace in, as in 

Here. There. Where. 

2. Es or s (the old genitive or possessive), which becomes se and ee, 
as in — 

Needs. Besides. Sometimes. Unawares. 

Else. Hence. Thence. Once. 

(i) "I must needs go" = of need. 

t Ly (O.E. lice, the dative of lie), as in — 

Only ( = ondy). Badly. Willingly. Utterly. 

4. Ling, long, denotes direction, as in- 

Darkling. Grovelling. Headlong. Sidelong. 

(i) Grovelling is not really a present participle ; it is an adverb, and was in 
O.E. gruflynges. 
(ii) We once had also the adverbs flattings and noselings. 

5. Meal (O.E. maelum = at times), as in — 

Piecemeal. Limbmeal. 

(i) Shakespeare, in " Cymbeline," has the line- 

" O that I had her here, to tear her limbmeal." 
(ii) Chaucer has stound-meal = hour by hour ; King Alfred has stykkemaelun 
= stick-meal, or here and there. 

6. Om (an old dative plural), as in — 

Whilom ( = in old times). Seldom (from seld, rare). 

7. Ther, which denotes place to, as in — 

Hither. Thither. Whither. 

8. Ward or wards, which denotes direction, as in — 

Homeward. Homewards. Backwards. Downwards. 

9. Wise (O.E. wise, manner, mode), as in — 

Anywise. Nowise. Otherwise. Likewise. 

" Some people are wise ; and some are otherwise." 



134 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

22. The following are the most important 

English Suffixes for Verbs : — 

« 

1. Le or 1 has two functions : — 

(i) Frequentative, as in — 

Dabble (dab). Grapple (grab). Waddle (tvade). 

Dribble (drip). Drizzle (from dreosan, to fall). Jostle. 

(ii) Diminutive, as in — 

Dazzle (daze). Dibble (dip) Dwindle. 

Gabble. Niggle. Sparkle. 

2. Er or r adds a frequentative or intensive force to the original 
verb, as in — 

Batter (beat). Chatter. Glitter (glow). Flutter (flit). 

Glimmer (gleam). Clatter. Sputter (spit). 

Stagger. Stammer. Stutter. Welter. 

Er has also the function of making causative verbs out of adjectives, as linger 
(long), lower, hinder. 

3. En or n makes causative verbs out of nouns and adjectives, as in — 

Brighten. Fatten. Lighten. Lengthen. 

Broaden. Gladden. Soften. Sweeten. 

4. K has a frequentative force, as in — 

Hark (hear). Stalk. Lurk. 

5. S or se has a causative force, as in — 

Cleanse (clean). Rinse (from hrein, clean). 

23. The Suffixes of Latin origin are of great importance ; and 
they have been of great use for several centuries. Many of 
them — indeed, most of them — have been influenced by passing 
through French mouths, and hence have undergone consider- 
able change. The following are the chief 

Latin and French Suffixes for Nouns : — ■ 

1. Age (Lat. aticum), which forms either abstract or collective 
nouns, as in — 

Beverage. Courage. Carnage. Homage. 

Marriage. Personage. Vassalage. Vintage, 

(i) It unites easily with English roots to form hybrids, as in bondage, mileage, 
tonnage, poundage, tillage, shrinkage. 

2. An, ain, or ane (Lat. anus), connected with, as in — 

Artisan. Pagan. Publican. Koman. 

Chaplain. Captain. Humane. Mundane, 

(i) The suffix is disguised in sovereign (O. Fr. soverain), which has been wrongly 
supposed to have something to do with reign; in warden, citizen, surgeon, etc. 
Milton always spells sovereign, sovran. 



SUFFIXES. 135 

3. Al or el (Lat. Jills), possessing the quality of, as in — 

Animal. Cardinal. Canal. Channel. 

Hospital. Hostel. Hotel. Spital. 

(i) Canal and channel are two different forms— doublets— of the same. So are 
cattle and chattels (capitalia). 

(ii) Hospital, spital, hostel, hotel, are four forms of the one Latin word hospit- 
alium. (Ostler is a shorter form of hosteller, with a dropped h.) 

4. Ant or ent (Latin antem or entem), denotes an agent, as in — 

Assistant. Servant. Agent. Student. 

5. Ance, ancy, or ence, ency (Lat. antia, entia), form abstract nouns, 
as in — 

Abundance. Chance. Distance. Brilliancy. 

Diligence. Indulgence. Constancy. Consistency, 

(i) Chance comes from late Lat. cadentia = an accident. Cadence is a doublet. 

6. Ary, ry, or er (Lat. arium), a place where a thing is kept, as in — 

Apiary {apis, a bee). Armoury. Granary. Sanctuary. 
Ewer (aqu-aria). Vestry. Larder. Saucer, 

(i) The ending ry unites freely with English words to form hybrids, as in 
cookery, piggery, robbery. 

(ii) In Jewry, jewellery (or jewelry), poultry, peasantry, cavalry, the ry has a col- 
lective meaning. 

7. Ary t ier, eer, or er (Lat. arius), denotes a person engaged in some 
trade or profession, as in — 

Commissary. Notary. Secretary. Statuary. 

Brigadier. Engineer. Mountaineer. Mariner, 

(i) This ending is disguised in chancellor (cancellarius), vicar, butler (—bottler), 
usher (ostiarius, a doorkeeper), premier, etc. 

8. Ate (Lat. atus, past participle ending), becoming in French e or ee, 
denotes — 

(i) An agent, as in — 

Advocate. Curate. Legate. Private, 

(ii) The object of an action, as in— 

Grantee. Legatee. Trustee. Vendee. 

B8T In grandee the passive signification is not retained. 

9. Ce (Lat. cium, tium, or tia) forms abstract nouns, as — 

Benefice. Edifice. Sacrifice. 

Hospice. Palace. Grace. 

10. El, le or 1 (Lat. ulus, ellus, etc.), a diminutive, as in — 

Angle (a little corner). Buckle (from bucca, the cheek). 

Castle. Chapel. Libel. Pommel. Title. Sea]. 
(i) Castle, from Lat castellum, a little fort, from castrum, a fort, 
(ii) Libel, from Lat. libellus, a little book (liber). 
(iii) Pommel, from Lat. pomum, an apple. 
(iv) Seal, from Lat. sigillum. 



136 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

11. Era (Lat. eraa), denoting place, as in — 

Cavern. Cistern. 

12. Et, ette, and let (Fr. et, ette) all diminutives, as in — 

Bassinette. Buffet. Chaplet. Coronet. 

Goblet. Gibbet. . Lancet. Leveret. 

Puppet. Trumpet. Ticket. Turret. 

(i) The let is = l + et, and is found in bracelet, fillet, cutlet, etc. It also unit&s 
with English words to form hybrids — as in hamlet, leaflet, ringlet, streamlet, etc. 

(ii) This ending is disguised in ballot (a small ball), chariot (car), parrot 
(=perroquet), etc. 

13. Ess (late Lat. issa), a female agent, as in — 

Empress. Governess. Marchioness. Sorceress. 

(i) It unites with English words to form the hybrids murderess, sempstress 
(The last is a double feminine, as seamestre is the old word.) 

14. Ice, ise, or ess (Lat. tia ; Fr. esse), as in — 

Avarice. Cowardice. Justice. Merchandise. 

Distress. Largess. Noblesse. Eiches. 

(i) It is a significant mark of the carelessness with which the English language 
has always been written, that the very same ending should appear in three 
spellings in largess, noblesse, riches. 
(ii) Riches is a false plural : it is an abstract noun, the French form being richesse. 

15. Ice (Lat. icem ace. of nouns in x), which has also the forms of 
ise, ace, as in — 

Chalice. Pumice. Mortise. Furnace. 

£) The suffix is much disguised in radish ( = the root, from radicem). 
(ii) It is also disguised in partridge and judge (judicem). 

16. Icle (Lat. iculus, ellus, ulus), which appears also as eel and sel, 
a diminutive, as in — 

Article (a little joint). Particle. Receptacle. Versicle. 
Parcel (particella). Morsel (from mordeo, I bite). 

Damsel (dominicella, a little lady). 

(i) The ending is disguised in rule (regula), carbuncle (from carbo, a coaO, uncle 
(avunculus), and vessel (from vas). 
(ii) Parcel and particle are doublets. 

17. Ine or in (Lat. inus) related to, as in — 

Divine (noun). Cousin. 

(i) Cousin is a contraction — through French — of the Latin consobHnus, 
the child of a mother's sister. 

(ii) The ending is disguised in pilgrim, from peregrinus = from per agros, 
through the fields. 

18. Ion (Lat. ionem), which appears also as tion, sion, and, from 
French, as son, som, denotes an action, as in — 



SUFFIXES. 137 

Action. Opinion. Position. Vacation. 

Potion. Poison. Benediction. Benison. 

Redemption. Ransom. Malediction. Malison. 

(i) Potion, poison, and the three other pairs are doublets — the first having 
come through the door of books straight from the Latin, the second through 
the mouth and ear, from French. 

(ii) Venison (Minted flesh, from venationem), season (sationem, the sowing 
time), belong to the above set. 

19. Ment (Lat. mentum) denotes an instrument or an act, as in — 

Document. Instrument. Monument. Ornament, 

(i) It combines easily with English words to make hybrids, as atonement^ 
acknowledgment, bewitchment, fulfilment. 

20. Mony (Lat. monium) makes abstract nouns, as — 
Acrimony. Matrimony. Sanctimony. Testimony. 

21. Oon or on (Fr. on ; Ital. one), an augmentative, as in — 
Balloon. Cartoon. Dragoon. Saloon. 
Flagon. Million. Pennon. Glutton. 
Clarion. Galleon. Trombone. Truncheon. 

(i) Augmentatives are the opposite of diminutives. Contrast balloon and ballot ; 
galleon and galliot (a small galley). 

(ii) A balloon is a large ball ; a cartoon a big carte ; a dragoon a large dragon ; 
a saloon a large hall (salle); flagon (O. Fr. flascon), a large flask; million, a big 
thousand (mille); pennon, a large pen or feather; galleon, a large galley; trom- 
lone, a large trump-et ; truncheon, a large staff (or trunk) of office. 

22. Ory, (Lat. orium), which appears also as or, our, and er, and 
denotes place, as in — 

Auditory. Dormitory. Refectory. Lavatory. 

Mirror. Parlour. Dormer. Manger. 

(i) Mirror Is contracted by the French from miratorium ; parlour from par- 
latorium; manger from manducatorium=fhe eating-place. Dormer is short 
for dormitory, from dormitorium. 

23. Our (Lat. or ; Fr. eur), forms abstract or collective nouns, as 
in — 

Ardour. Clamour. Honour. Savour, 

(i) The ending resumes its French form in grandeur. 
(ii) It forms a hybrid in behaviour. 

24. Or or our (Lat. orem ; Fr. eur) denotes an agent, as in — 
Actor. Governor. Emperor Saviour. 

(i) This ending is disguised in interpreter, labourer, preacher, etc. 
(ii) A large number of nouns which used to end in our or or, took er through 
the influence of the English suffix er. They were " attracted " into that form. 



|38 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

25. T (Lat. tus— the ending of the past participle) indicates a completed 
act, as in — 

Act. Fact. Joint. Suit. 

(i) The t in Latin has the same origin and performs the same function as the d 
in English (as in dead, finished, and other past participles, etc.) 

(ii) The ending is disguised in feat, which is a doublet of fact, in fruit (Lat. 
fruct-us), comfit (=confect), counterfeit ( = contrafact-um). 

26. Ter (Lat. ter) denotes a person, as in — 

Master (contracted from rnagister). Minister, 

(i) Magister comes from magis, more, which contains the root of magnus, great J 
minister from minus, less. 

27. Tery (Lat. terium) denotes condition, as in — 

Mastery. Ministry. 

28. Trix (Lat. trix) denotes a female agent, as in — 

Executrix. Improvisatrix. Testatrix, 

(i) This ending is disguised in empress (Fr. impe'ratrice from Lat. imperairix) ; 
and in nurse (Fr. nourrice, Lat. nutrix). 

29. Tude (Lat. tudlnem), denotes condition, as in— 

Altitude. Beatitude. Fortitude. Multitude, 

(i) In custom, from Lat. consuetudinem, the ending is disguised. 

30. Ty (Lat. tatem ; Fr. te) makes abstract nouns, as in — 

Bounty. Charity. Cruelty. Poverty. 

Captivity. Frailty. Fealty. Vanity, 

(i) Bounty (bonte), poverty (pauvrete), frailty, and fealty come, not directly 
from Latin, but through French. 

31. Ure (Lat. ura) denotes an action, or the result of an action, as 
in — 

Aperture. Cincture. Measure. Picture. 

32. Y (Lat. ia ; Fr. ie) denotes condition or faculty, as in — 

Company. Family. Fury. Victory, 

(i) This suffix unites easily with English words in er — as bakery, fishery, rob- 
bery, etc. 
(ii) It stands for Lat. ium in augury, remedy, study, subsidy, etc. 
(iii) It represents the Lat. ending atus in attorney, deputy, ally, quarry. 

24. The Latin (or French) suffixes employed in our language 
to make Adjectives are very useful. The following are the 
chief 

Latin Suffixes for Adjectives. 

1. Aceous (Lat. aceus) = made of, as in — 

Argillaceous (clayey). Farinaceous [floury). 



SUFFIXES. 139 

2. Al (Lat. alls) = belonging to, as in — 

Legal. Eegal. Loyal. Koyal. 

(i) Loyal and royal are the same words as legal and regal; but, in passing 
through French, the hard g has been refined into a y. 

'6. An, ane, or ain (Lat. anus and aneus) = connected with, as in — 
Certain. Human {homo). Humane. Pagan (pagus, a 

district), 
(i) This ending disguises itself in mizzen (medianus) ; in surgeon (chirurgianus) ; 
and in sexton (contracted from sacristan). 

(ii) In champaign (level), and foreign (foraneus), this ending greatly disguises 
itself. In strange (extraneus), still more. All have been strongly influenced in 
their passage through the French. 

4. Ant, ent (Lat. antem, entem, ace. of pres. part.), as in — 

Current (curro, I run). Distant. President. Discordant. 

5. Ar (Lat. axis) which appears also as er = belonging to, as in — 

Eegular. Singular. Secular. Premier, 

(i) Premier (Lat. primarius), has received its present spelling by passing 
through French. 

6. Ary (Lat. arius), which also takes the secondary formations of 
arious and arian = belonging to, as in — 

Contrary. Necessary. Gregarious. Agrarian. 

7. Atic (Lat. aticus) = belonging to, as in — 

Aquatic. Fanatic (fanum). Lunatic. 

8. Able, ible, ble (Lat. abilis, 6bilis, ibilis) = capable of being, 

as in — 

Amiable. Culpable. Flexible. Movable, 

(i) Feeble (Lat. flebilis, worthy of being wept over), comes to us through the 
O. Fr. floible. 

(ii) This suffix unites easily with English roots to form hybrids, like eatable, 
drinkable, teachable, gullible. Carlyle has also doable. 

9. Pie, ble (Lat. plex, from plico, I fold) = the English suffix— fold, 
as in — 

Simple ( = onefold). Double. Triple. Treble. 

10. Esque (Lat. iscus ; Fr. esque) = partaking of, as in — 

Burlesque. Grotesque {grotto). Picturesque, 

(i) This ending is disguised in morris (dance) = Moresco (or Moorish) 

11. Ic (Lat. Icus) = belonging to, as in — 

Gigantic. Metallic. Public (populus). Rustic, 

(i) This ending is disguised in indigo (from Indicus [colour] = the Indian 
colour.) 



140 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

12. Id (Lat. Idus) = having the quality of, as in — 

Acid. Frigid. Limpid. Morbid. 

13. He, il (Lat. His), often used as a. passive suffix, as in — 

Docile. Fragile. Mobile. Civil. 

(i) Fragile, in passing through French, lost the g — which was always hard-* 
and became frail. 

(ii) The suffix He is disguised in gentle and subtle. 

(iii) Gentile^ gentle, and genteel, are all different forms of the same word. 

(iv) Kennel ( = canile) is really an adjective from canis. 

14. Ine (Lat. Inus) = belonging to, as in — 

Canine. Crystalline. Divine. Saline. 

(i) In marine, the ending, by passing through French, has acquired a French 
pronunciation. 

15. Ive (Lat. Ivus) = inclined to, as in — 

Abusive. Active. Fugitive. Plaintive. 

(i) This ending appears also as if, by passing through French, as in caitiff 
(= captivus) ; and in the nouns plaintiff and bailiff. 

(ii) It also disguises itself as a y in hasty, jolly, testy, which in O. Fr. were 
hastif, jollif, testif{= heady). 

(iii) It unites with the English word talk to form the hybrid talkative. 

16. Lent (Lat. lentus) = full of, as in — 

Corpulent. Fraudulent. Opulent (opes). Violent (vis). 

17. Ory (Lat. orius) = full of, as in — 

Amatory. Admonitory. Illusory. 

18. Ose, ous (Lat. osus) = full of, as in — 

Bellicose. Grandiose. Verbose. Curious, 

(i) The form in ous has been influenced by the French ending eux. 

19. Ous (Lat. us) = belonging to, as in — 

Anxious. Assiduous. Ingenuous. Omnivorous. 

(i) It unites with English words to form the hybrids ivondrous, boisterous, 
righteous (which is an imitative corruption of the O.E. rihtwis). 

20. Und (Lat. undus) = full of, as in — 

Jocund. Moribund. Rotund. 

(i) Rotund has been shortened into round. Second is, through French, from 
Lat. secundus (from sequor, I follow) — the number that follows the first. Ventut 
secundus is a favourable wind, or a "wind that follows fast." 

(ii) This ending is slightly modified in vagabond and second. 

21. Ulous (Lat. tilus) = full of, as in — 

Querulous (full of complaint). Sedulous. 



SUFFIXES. 141 

25. The following are the chief 

Latin Suffixes for Verba. 

1. Ate (Lat. atum, supine), as in — 

Complicate. Dilate. Relate. Supplicate. 

(i) Assassinate (from the Arabic hashish, a preparation of Indian hemp, whose 
effects are similar to those of opium) is a hybrid. 

2. Esce (Lat. esco), a frequentative suffix, as in — 

Coalesce (to grow together). Effervesce (to boil up). 

3. Fy (Lat. f Ico ; Fr. fie — from Lat. facio) = to make, as in — 

Beautify. Magnify. Signify. 

4. Ish (Fr. iss) = to make, as in — 

Admonish. Establish. Finish. Nourish. 

5. Ete, ite, t (Lat. itum, etum, turn), with an active function, as in- 

complete. Delete. Expedite. Connect. 

26. The suffixes which the English language has adopted 
from Greek are not numerous ; but some of them are very useful. 
Most of them are employed to make nouns. The following are 
the chief 

Greek Suffixes. 

1. Y (Gr. ia), makes abstract nouns, as in — 

Melancholy. Monarchy. Necromancy. Philosophy, 

(i) Fancy is a compressed form of phantasy (phantasia = imagination), 
(ii) In dyspepsia and hydrophobia (late introduced words) the full Greek suffix 
is retained. 

2. Ic (Gr. ik6s) = belonging to, as in — 

Aromatic. Barbaric. Frantic. Graphic. 

Arithmetic. Schismatic. Logic. Music. 

(i) With the addition of the Latin alls, adjectives are formed from some of 
these words, as logical, musical, etc. 

(ii) The plural form of some adjectives also makes nouns of them, as in politics, 
tthics, physics. In Ireland we find also logics. 

(iii) Arithmetic, logic, and music are from Greek nouns ending in ike. 

3. Sis (Gr. <Tis) = action, as in — 

Analysis. Emphasis. Genesis. Synthesis. 

(i) In the following words sis has become sy, as hypocrisy, poesy, palsy (short 
for paralysis). 
(ii) In the following the is has dropped away altogether— ellipse, phase. 



142 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

4. Ma or m (Gr. /no), passive suffix, as in — 

Diorama. Dogma. Drama (something done). Schism. 

Baptism. Barbarism. Despotism. Egotism. 

(i) In diadem and system the a has dropped off; in scheme and theme it has 
been changed into an e. 

(ii) Schism comes from schizo, I cut. 

(iii) This ending unites freely with Latin words to form hybrids, as in deism, 
mannerism, purism, provincialism, vulgarism, etc. 

5. St (Gr. arrjs) = agent, as in — 

Baptist. Botanist. Iconoclast (image -breaker). 

(i) This suffix has become a very useful one, and is largely employed. It forms 
numerous hybrids with words of Latin origin, as abolitionist, excursionist, educa^ 
tionist, journalist, protectionist, jurist, socialist, specialist, royalist. 

6. T or te (Gr. ttjs) = agent, as in — 

Comet. Planet. Poet. Apostate. 

(i) Comet means a long-haired star; planet, a wanderer; poet, a maker (in 
Northern English poets called themselves " Makkers ") ; an apostate, a person 
who has fallen away. 

(ii) This ending is also found in the form of ot and it, as in idiot, patriot, 
hermit. 

7. Ter or tre (Gr. rpov), denotes an instrument or place, as in — 

Metre. Centre. Theatre. 

8. Isk (Gr. io-kos), a diminutive, as in — 

Asterisk (a little star). Obelisk (a small spit). 

9. Ize or ise (Gr. ify) makes factitive verbs, as in — 

Baptise. Criticise. Judaize. Anglicize. 

(i) This ending combines with Latin words to form the hybrids minimise, 
rtalise, etc. 



WORD - BRANCHING. 





When our language was young and uninfluenced by other 

languages, it had the power of growing words. These words, 

like plants, grew from a root ; and 

all the words that grew from the same 

root had a family likeness. Thus 

byrn-an, the old word for to burn, 

gave us brimstone, brown (which is 

the burnt colour), brunt, brand, 

brandy, and brindle. These we 

might represent to ourselves, on the 

blackboard, as growing in this way. 

But, unfortunately, we soon lost this 
power. From the time when the Nor- 
mans came into this country in 1066, the language became less 
and less capable of growing its own words. Instead of produc- 
ing a new word, we fell into the habit of simply taking an old 
and ready-made word from French, or from Latin, or from 
Greek, and giving it a place in the language. Instead of the 
Old English word fairhood, we imported the French word 
beauty ; instead of forewit, we adopted the Latin word cau- 
tion ; instead of lieherest, we took the Greek word cemetery. 
And so it came about that in course of time we lost the power 
of growing our own new words. The Greek word asterisk 
has prevented our making the word starkin ; the Greek name 
astronomy has kept out star-craft ; the Latin word omnibus 
has stopped our even thinking of folkwain; and the name 
vocabulary is much more familiar to our ears than word- 
hoard. Indeed, so strange have some of our own native 



144 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



English words become to us, that sentences composed entirely 
of English words are hardly intelligible ; and, to make them 
quickly intelligible, we have to translate some of the English 
words into Greek or into Latin. It is well, however, for us to 
become acquainted with those pure English words which grew 
upon our own native roots, and which owe nothing whatever 
to other languages. Eor they are the purest, the simplest, the 
most homely and the most genuine part of our language ; and 
from them we can get a much better idea of what our language 
once was than we can from its present very mixed condition. 
The following are the most important 



ENGLISH ROOTS AND BRANCHES (OR DERIVATIONS). 



Bac-an, to bake— baker, baxter i (a woman 
baker), batch. 

Ban-a, a slayer— bane, baneful ; ratsbane, 
henbane. 

Beat-an, to strike— beat ; beetle (a wooden 
bat for beating clothes). 

Beorg-an, to shelter— burrow, bury (noun 
in Canterbury — and verb) ; burgh, 
burgher ; burglar (a house-robber) ; har- 
bour, Cold Harbour ; 2 harbinger (a per- 
son sent on in front to procure lodg- 
ings) ; borrow (to raise money on secur- 
ity). 

Ber-an, to bear— bear, bier, bairn ; birth, 
berth ; burden. 

Bet-an, to make good— better, best ; boot 
(in "to boot" = "to the good"), boot- 
less. 

Bidd-an, to pray— bedesman ; bead ("to 
bid one's beads" was to say one's 



prayers ; and these were marked off by 
small round balls of wood or glass — now 
called beads— strung upon a string). 

Bind-an, to bind— band, bond, bondage ; 
bundle ; woodbine ; bindweed. 

Bft-an, to bite— bit ; beetle; bait; bitter. 

Bla'w-an, to puff— bladder, blain (chil- 
blain), blast, blaze (to proclaim), blazon 
(a proclamation), blare (of a trumpet); 
blister. 

Blow-an, to blossom— blow (said of flow- 
ers) ; bloom, blossom ; blood, blade ; 
blowsy. 

Brec-an, to break— break, breakers ; brake, 
bracken ; breach, brick ; break -fast ; 
bray (where the hard guttural has been 
absorbed). 

Breow-an, to brew- brew, brewer; broth. 

Bug-an, to bend— bow, elbow ; 3 bough ; 
bight; buxom (O.E. bocsum, flexible or 



1 Compare brewster, a woman brewer, spinster, webster, and others. Brewster, Baxter, 
and Webster are now only used as proper names. 

2 Cold Harbour was the name given to an inn which provided merely shelter without 
provisions. There are numerous places of this name in England. Many of them stand 
on the great Roman roads ; and they were chiefly the ruins of Roman villas used by 
travellers who carried their own bedding and provisions. See Isaac Taylor's 'Words 
and Places,' p. ,256. 

3 Elbow = ell-bow, The ell was the forepart of the arm. 



WORD-BRANCHING. 



145 



obedient). The hard g in bigan appears 
as a w in bow, as a gh in bough, as a y 
in bay, as a k in buxom =buk-som. 

Byrn-an, to burn— burn, brown; brunt, 
brimstone; brand, brandy; brindled. 

Cat, a cat— catkin; kitten, kitling ; cater- 
pillar (the hairy cat, from Lat. pilosus, 
hairy), caterwaul. 

Ceapi-an, to buy— cheap, cheapen ; chop 
(to exchange) ; a chopping sea ; chap, 
chapman ; chaffer ; Eastcheap, Cheap- 
side, Chepstow ( = the market stow or 
place), Chippenham.i 

Cenn-au, to produce — kin, kind, kindred ; 
kindly ; kindle. 

Ceow-an, to chew — chew; cheek; jaw 
(=chaw); jowl ; chaw-bacon ; cud(=the 
chewed). Compare seethe and suds. 

Cleov-an, to split — cleave, cleaver ; cleft. 

Clifi-an, to stick to— cleave. 

Cnaw-an, to know — ken, know; know- 
ledge. 

Cnotta, a knot— knot, knit. 

Cunn-an, to know or to be able— can, con ; 
cunning ; uncouth. 

Cweth-an, to say— quoth ; bequeath. 

Cwic, alive — quick, quicken; quickset; 
quicklime; quicksilver,- to cut to the 
quick. 

Dael-an, to divide— deal (verb and noun), 
dole ; dale, dell (the original sense being 
cleft, or separated). 

Dem-an, to judge — deem, doom ; demp- 
ster (the name for a, judge in the Isle of 
Man) ; doomsday ; kingdom. 

De6r, dear — dearth ; darling ; endear. 

Doan, to act— do; don, doff, dup (=do up 
or op-en); dout (=do out or put out); 
deed. Compare mow, mead ; sow, seed. 

Drag -an, to draw — drag, draw, dray 
(three forms of the same word) ; draft 
(draught) ; drain ; dredge ; draggle ; 
drawl. 

Drif-an, to push — drive; drove; drift, 
adrift. 

Drige, dry— dry (verb and adj.) ; drought; 
drugs (originally dried plants). 



Drinc-an, to soak — drink; drench (to 
make to drink). Compare sit, set ; fall 
fell, etc. 

Drip -an, to drip — drip, drop, droop ; 
dribble, driblet. 

Dug -an, to be good for — do (in "That 
will do"); doughty. 

Eac, also — eke (verb and adv.) ; ekename 
(which became a nickname; the n hav- 
ing dropped from the article and clung 
to the noun). 

Eage, eye — Egbert ( — bright-eyed); daisy 
(=day's eye); window (= wind-eye). 

Eri-an, to plough— ear (the old word for 
plough); earth (= the ploughed). 

Far-an, to go or travel — far, fare ; welfare, 
fieldfare, thoroughfare ; ferry ; ford. 

Feng -an, to catch — fang, finger, new- 
fangled (catching eagerly after new 
things). 

Feower, four— farthing ; firkin; fourteen; 
forty. 

Fleog-an, to flee— fly, flight ; flea ; fledged. 

Fleot-an, to float— fleet (noun, verb, and 
adj.) ; float ; ice-floe ; afloat ; floatsam 2 
(things found floating on the water after 
a wreck). 

F<5d-a, food— feed ; food, fodder, foster ; 
fath-er; forage (=fodderage), forager; 
foray (an excursion to get food). 

Fre6n, to love— freond = friend (the pres. 
part.) a lover ; Fri-day (the day of Friya, 
the goddess of love) ; friendship, etc. 

Gal-an, to sing — gale, yell ; nightingale." 

Gang -an. to go — gang, gangway; ago. 
(The words gate and gait do not come 
from this verb, but from get.) 

Gnag-an, to bite — gnaw (the g has be- 
come a w) ; nag (to tease). 

Graf-an, to dig or cut— grave, groove, 
grove (the original sense was a lane cut 
through trees); graft, engraft ; engrave, 
engraver. 

Grip-an, to seize— grip, gripe; grasp; 
grab ; grope. 

Gyrd-an, to surround— gird, girdle ; gar- 
den, yard, vineyard, hopyard. 



1 The same root is found in the Scotch Kippen and the Danish Copenhagen = Mer- 
chants' Haven. 

2 "Flotsam and jetsam" mean the floating things and the things thrown over- 
board from a ship. Jetsam comes from Old Fr. jetter, to throw. (Hence also " jet of 
water" ; jetty, etc. Jetsam is a hybrid— sam being a Scandinavian suffix. 

3 The n in nightingale is no part of the word. It is intrusive and non-organic ; as 
it also is in -passenger, messenger, porringer, etc. 



146 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Hael-an, to heal— hale ; holy, hallow, 
All - hallows ; health ; hail ; whole,! 
wholesome; wassail (=Waes hal ! = Be 
whole !) 

Hebb-an, to raise— heave, heave-offering ; 
heavy (=that requires much heaving); 
heaven. 

Hlaf, bread— loaf; lord (hlaford = loaf- 
ward) ; lady ( = hlaf-dige, from dig-an, to 
knead); Lammas ( = Loaf-mass, Aug. 1 ; 
a loaf was offered on this day as the 
offering of the first-fruits). 

Leac, a leek— house -leek; garlic; hem- 
lock. 

Licg-an, to lie — lie; lay, layer; lair; 
outlay. 

Loda, a guide — lead (the verb) ; lode-star, 
lode-stone (also written loadstone). 

Mag-an, to be able — may, main (in ' ' might 
and main "), might, mighty. 

Mang, a mixture — a-mong ; mongrel ; 
mingle. 

Maw an, to cut — mow ; math, aftermath ; 
mead, meadow (the places where grass is 
mowed). 

M6n-a, the moon — month; moonshine. 
(This word comes from a very old root, 
ma, to measure. Our Saxon forefathers 
measured by moons and by nights, as 
we see in the words fortnight, se'nnight.) 

Naeddre, a snake — adder. The n has 
dropped off from the word, and has ad- 
hered to the article. Compare apron, 
from naperon (compare with napkin, 
napery) ; umpire, from numpire. The 
opposite example 5f the n leaving the 
article and adhering to the noun, is 
found in nag, from an ag ; nickname 
from an ekename. 

Nasu, a nose— nose, naze, ness (all three 
different forms of the same word, and 
found in the Naze, Sheerness, etc.); 
nostril = nose -thirl (from thirlian, to 
bore a hole), nozzle ; nosegay. 

Penn-an, to shut up or enclose— pen, pin 
(two forms of the same word); pound, 
pond (two forms of the same word); 
impound. 

Pic, a point— pike, peak (two forms of the 
same word) ; pickets (stakes driven into 
the ground to tether horses to) ; pike, 
pickerel (the fish) ; peck, pecker. 

Raed-an, to read or guess— rede (advice) ; 



riddle; Ethelred (= noble in counsel); 
Unready ( = Unrede, without counsel); 
Mildred ( = mild in counsel). 

Rea'f, clothing, spoil ; reafi-an, to rob— rob, 
robber ; reave, bereave ; reever ; robe. 

Ripe, ripe — reap (to gather what is ripe). 

Sca\I-an, to divide— shed (to part the 
hair); watershed. 

Sceap-an, to form or fashion— shape ; ship 
(the suffix in friendship, etc.) ; scape 
(the suffix in landscape, etc.) 

Sce6t-an, to throw — shoot, shot, shut 
(=to shoot the bolt of the door); sheet 
(that which is thrown over a bed) ; shut- 
ter, shuttle ; scud. 

Scdr-an, to cut— shear, share, sheer, shire, 
shore (all forms of the same word) ; scar, 
scare ; score (the twentieth notch in 
the tally, and made larger than the 
others); scarify, sharp; short, shirt, 
skirt (three forms of the same word) ; 
shred, potsherd (the same word, with 
the r transposed); sheriff (=scir-gerefa, 
reeve of the shire). The soft form sh 
belongs to the southern English dia- 
lects : the hard forms, sc and sk, to 
the northern. 

Scuf-an, to push— shove, shovel, shuffle ; 
scuffle ; sheaf ; scoop. 

Sett-an, to set, or make sit — set, seat ; 
settle, saddle ; Somerset, Dorset. 

Slag-an, to strike— slay (the hard g has 
been refined into a y), slaughter ; slog, 
sledge (in sledge-hammer). 

Slip-an, to slip — slop; slipper, sleeve (into 
which the arm is slipped). 

Snic-an, to crawl — sneak, snake, snail 
(here the hard guttural has been refined 
away). 

Spell, a story or message — spell (=to give 
an account of or tell the story of the 
letters in a word) ; spell-bound ; gospel 
( = God's spell). 

Stearc, stiff — stark ; strong (a nasalised 
form of stark); string (that which is 
strongly twisted) ; strength ; strangle. 

Stede, a place— stead, instead, homestead, 
farm-steading ; steady ; steadfast ; be- 
stead ; Hampstead. 

Stic'i-an, to stick— stick, stitch (two forms 
of the same word), stake, stock, stock- 
ade ; stock-dove ; stock-fish (fish dried 
to keep in stock) ; stock-still. 



i The w in whole is intrusive and non-organic, as in whoop, and in wun (=one, so 
pronounced, but not so written). Before the year 1500 whole was always written hole; 
and in this form it is seen to be a doublet of hale. Holy is simply hole+y. 



WORD-BRANCHING. 



147 



Stig-an, to climb — stair ; stile ; stirrup 
( = stigrdp, or rope for rising into the 
saddle); sty (iu pig-sty). 

Stow, a place— bestow ; stowage, stowa- 
way; C%epstow (=the place where a 
cheap or market is held); .Bristol (the 
1 and w being interchangeable). 

StyT-an, to direct— steer, stern ; steerage. 

Sundri-an, to part — sunder; sundry; 
asunder. (Compare sever and several.) 

Sweri-an, to declare — swear, answer ( = 
andswerian, to declare in opposition or 
in reply to), forswear. 

Taec-an, to show — teach, teacher; token 
(that which is shown) ; taught (when 
the hard c reappears as a gh). 

Tell-an, to count or recount— tell ; tale,l 
talk ; toll ; teller. 

Teoh-an (or te6n), to draw — tow, tug 
(two forms of the same word, the hard 
guttural having been preserved in the 
one); wanton ( — without right upbring- 
ing). Compare wanhope = despair ; 
wantrust = mistrust. 

Thaec, a roof— thatch ; deck. 

Tred-an, to walk — tread, treadle; trade; 
tradesman, trade-win. 

Truwa, good faith— true, truth, troth, be- 
troth. 

Twa, two — two, twin, twain ; twelve (= 
two + lufan, ten) ; twenty ; between ; 
twig ; twiddle ; twine, twist, etc. 



Waci-an, to be on one's guard— wake, 
watch (two forms of the same word); 
awake, wakeful. 

Wad-an, to go— wade; waddle; Watling 
Street (the road of the pilgrims). The 
Eng. word wade is of the same origin as 
the Lat. vade in evade, invade, etc. 

Wana, a deficiency— wan, wane; want, 
wanton ; wanhope (the old word for des- 
pair). 

Wef-an, to weave — weave, weaver; web, 
webster (a woman-weaver) ; cobweb ; 
woof, weft (v, b, and f, being all labials). 

Werre, war — warfare (faring or going to 
war), warlike, warrior. War is from the 
Teutonic base rvars, to twist. Worse 
is a cognate word, in which the s 
is part of the root or base. 

Wit-an, to know— wit, to wit ; wise, wis- 
dom ; wistful ; witness ; Witena-gemote 
(=the Meeting of the Wise); y-wis (the 
past participle, wrongly written I 
wis). 

"Wraest-an, to wrest — wrest, wrestle; 
wrist. 

"Wring-an, to force— wring, wrong (that 
which is wrung out of the right course). 

Wyrc-an, to work — work, wright (the r 
shifts its place). 

Wyrt, a herb or plant— wort \ orchard (= 
wort -yard); wart (on the skin); St 
John's wort, etc. 



LATIN ROOTS. 



Those words with (F) after them have not come to us directly from Latin ; 
but, indirectly, through French. 



Acer (acris), sharp ; acrid, acrimony, vine- 
gar (sharp wine, F.), eager (F.) 

.flSdes, a building ; edifice, edify. 

iEquus, equal; equality, equator, equi- 
nox, equity, adequate, iniquity. 

A.ger, afield; agriculture, agrarian, pere- 
grinate. 



Ago (actum), I do, act; act, agent, agile, 
agitate, cogent. 

Alo, I nourish ; aliment, alimony. 

Alter, the other of two ; alternation, sub- 
altern, altercation. 

Altus, high; altitude, exalt, alto (It.), 
altar. 



1 " And every shepherd tells his tale (=counts his sheep) 
Under the hawthorn in the dale." — Milton : II Penseroso- 



148 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Ambulo, I walk; amble, perambulator. 

Amo, I love; amity, amorous, amiable (F.), 
inimical. 

Angulus, a corner ; angle, triangle, quad- 
rangle. 

Anima, life; animal, animate, animation. 

Animus, mind; magnanimity, equan- 
imity, unanimous, animadvert. 

Annus, a year; annual, perennial, bien- 
nial, anniversary. 

Aperio (apertum), I open; aperient, aper- 
ture, April (the opening month). 

Appello, I call; appeal, appellation, ap- 
pellant, peal (of bells). 

Aqua, water ; aqueduct, aquatic, aqueous, 
aquarium. 

Arcus, a low; arch, arc, arcade (Fr. It.) 

Ardeo, I burn; ardent, ardour, arson 
(F.) 

Ars (artis), art; artist, artisan (F.), arti- 
fice, inert. 

Audio, I hear; audience, audible, audi- 
tory. 

Augeo (auctum), I increase; augment, 
author, auctioneer. 

Barba, a beard ; barb, barber, barbel (all 
through F.) 

Bellum, war; rebel, rebellious, bellig- 
erent, bellicose. 

Bis, twice; biscuit, bissextile, bisect, 
bicycle. 

Brevis, short; brevity, abbreviate, brief 
(F.), breviary, abridge (F.) 

Cado (casum), I fall ; casual, accident. 

Csedo (caesum), I cut, kill; precise, exci- 
sion, decide. 

Candeo, I shine; candidus, white; can- 
did, candidate, candle. 

Cano (can turn), I sing; cant, canticle, 
chant (F.), incantation. 

Capio (captum), I take; captive, accept, 
reception (F.), capacity. 

Caput, the head; capital, captain, cape, 
chapter (F.) 

Caro (carnis), flesh; carnal, carnival, car- 
nivorous, carnation. 

Causa, a cause; causative, accuse (F.), 
excuse (F.) 

Cavus, hollow; cavity, cave, excavate, 
concave. 

Cedo (cessum), * go, yield; proceed (F.), 
ancestor (F.), secede. 

Centrum (Gr. Kempov = a point), centre ; 
centralise, centripetal, eccentric. 

Centum, a hundred; century, centurion, 
cent. 



Cerno (cretum), to distinguish; discern, 
discretion, discreet. 

Cingp (cinctum), I gird; cincture, suc- 
cinct, precinct. 

Cito, I call or summon; citation, recite 
(F.), excite (F.), incite (F.) 

Civis, a citizen; city (F.), civic, civil, civ- 
ilise, civilian. 

Glamo, I shout; claim (F.), clamour, re- 
claim (F.), proclamation. 

Clarus, clear; clarify, declare, clarion, 
claret (F.) 

Claude (clausum), I shut ; clause, close 
(F.), exclude, seclusion. 

Clino, I bend; incline, decline, recline. 

Colo (cultum), I till; cultivate, arboricul- 
ture, agriculture. 

Cor (cordis), the heart; courage (F.), cor- 
dial (F.), discord, record. 

Corona, a crown; coronet, coroner, coro- 
nation, corolla. 

Corpus, the body; corps, corpse (F.), cor- 
pulent, corporation. 

Credo, I believe; credibility, credence (F.), 
miscreant (F.), creed, creditor. 

Creo, I create; create, creation, recrea- 
tion, creature. 

Cresco, I grow; increase, decrease, incre- 
ment. 

Crux (crucis), a cross; crucial, crucifix, 
cruise (F.) 

Cubo, I lie down; cubit, incubate, recum- 
bent. 

Culpa, a fault; culprit, culpable, excul- 
pate, inculpate. 

Cura, cure; curate, curator, accurate, 
secure, incurable. . 

Curro (cursum), I run; current, recur, 
excursion, cursory, course (F.), occur. 

Decern, ten; decimal, December, deci- 
mate. 

Dens (dentis), a tooth; dentist, dental, 
indent, trident. 

Deus, God; deity, deify, divine. 

Dico (dictum), / say; verdict, dictionary, 
dictation, indictment, ditto. 

Dies, a day ; diary, diurnal, meridian. 

Dignus, worthy ; dignity, dignify, in- 
dignant, deign (F.) 

Do (datum), I give; date, data, donor, 
tradition. 

Doceo (doctum), I teach; docile, doctor, 
doctrine. 

Dominus, a lord; domineer, dominion, 
dominant, dame (F.), damsel (F.)» 
madame (F.) 



WORD-BRANCHING. 



149 



Domus, a house ; domestic, domicile. 

Dormio, I sleep; dormitory, dormant, 
dormouse. 

Duco (ductum), 1 lead ; induct, educa- 
tion, duke (F.), produce. 

Duo, tiro ; dual, duel, duplex, double (F.) 

Emo (emptum), I buy; exemption, re- 
deem. 

Eo (itum), I go; exit, transit, circuit (F.), 
ambition, perish (F.) 

Erro, I wander ; err, error, aberration. 

Facies, a face; facial, facet (F.), super- 
ficial. 

Facio (factum), I make; manufacture, 
factor, faction, fashion (F.), feature 
(F.), fact, feat(F.) 

Fero (latum), I carry; infer, suffer, refer- 
ence, difference ; relative, correlative. 

Fido, I trust ; confide, diffident, infidel. 

Filum, a thread; file, defile, profile, fillet 
(F.) 

Finis, the end ; finish, finite, infinite, in- 
finitive. 

Firmus, firm ; infirm, affirm, confirm. 

Flecto (fiexum), I bend; inflect, inflection, 
flexible. 

Flos (floris), o flower; floral, flora, flori- 
culture. 

Fluo (fluxum), I flow; fluent, fluid, flux, 
affluent. 

Folium, a leaf; foliage, foil (F.), portfolio, 
trefoil (F.) 

Forma, a form; form, formal, reform, 
conformity. 

Fortis, strong ; fortify, fortitude, fortress, 
force (F.) 

Frango (fractus), I break; fragile (F.), 
fragmentary, infraction, infringe. 

Frater, a brother; fraternal, fratricide, 
friar (F.) 

Frons (frontis), the forehead; front, frontal, 
frontier, frontispiece. 

Fugio, I fiee; fugitive, refugee, subterfuge. 

Fundo (fusum), I pour; fount (F.), foun- 
dry, funnel, fusible, diffusion. 

Fundus, the bottom ; foundation, profound 
(F.), founder. 

Gens (gentis), a race, people; gentile, 
genteel (F.), gentle, congenial. 

Gero (gestum), I bear, carry; gesture, 
suggestion, indigestion. 

Gradus, a step ; gradior (gressus), I go ; 
grade, degrade, graduate ; progress (F.), 
gradient. 

Gratia, favour, pi. thanks; gratitude, in- 
gratiate, gratis. 



Gravis, heavy ; grave, gravity, grief (F.), 

aggrieve (F.) 
Habeo (habituni), I have; habit, able 

exhibit, prohibition. 
Heereo (hsesum), I stick; adhere, adher 

ent, cohesion. 
Homo, a man; homicide, homage (F.) 

human, humane. 
Ignis, fire ; ignite, igneous. 
Impero, I command; imperative, imperial 

empire, emperor (F.) 
Initium, a beginning ; initiate, initial. 
Insula, an island; isle, insular, peninsula. 
Jacio (jectum), I throw; adjective, pro 

ject, injection, object, subject. 
Judex (judicis), a judge; judgment (F.). 

judicial. 
Jungo (junctum), i" join ; junction, junc 

ture, conjoin (F.), adjunct. 
Jus (juris), right; justice (F.), jury, in 

jury. 
Labor (lapsus), I glide; lapse, relapse 

collapse. 
Lapis (lapidis), a stone; lapidary, dilapi 

dated. 
Laus (laudis), praise; laud, laudable, laud 

ation, allow (F.) 
Lego (lectum), I gather, read; collect 

elector, select ; lecture (F.), legend 

legible. 
Lego (legatum), I send; legate, delegate 

legacy. 
Levis, light; levity, alleviate, relief (F.), 

lever, leaven. 
Lex (legis), a law; legal, legislate, legiti 

mate. 
Liber, free ; liberal, liberty, libertine. 
Liber, a book; library, librarian. 
Ligo, I bind; ligament, religion, oblige 

(F.), liable (F.) 
Linquo (lictum), I leave; relinquish, relict, 

relics. 
Litera, a letter; literal, literary, litera- 
ture. 
Locus, a place; local, allocate, dislocate, 

locomotive. 
Loquor (locutus), I speak; loquacious, 

elocution, colloquy. 
Ludo (lusum), I play ; elude, illusion, in- 
terlude, ludicrous. 
Lumen, light; illuminate, luminous, lum- 
inary. 
Luna, the moon; lunar, sublunary, lun- 
acy. 
Luo (lutum), I wash; ablution, dilute, 

antediluvian. 



150 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Lux (lucis), light; lucid, elucidate, pel- 
lucid. 

Magnus, great ; magnitude, magnify, mag- 
nificent, magnanimous. 

Malus, bad ; malady, malice (F.), malaria, 
malevolent. 

Maneo (mansuin), / remain; manse, man- 
sion, permanent. 

Manus, the hand; manuscript, manual, 
manufacture, amanuensis. 

Mare, the sea; marine, mariner, maritime. 

Mater, a mother; maternal, matricide, 
matron, matriculate. 

Maturus, ripe; mature, immature, pre- 
mature. 

Medius, the middle; medium, mediate, 
immediate, Mediterranean. 

Memini, I remember; memor, mindful; 
memory, memoir (F.), commemorate, 
immemorial. 

Mens (mentis), the mind; mental, de- 
mented. 

Mergo (mersum), J dip; emerge, immer- 
sion, emergency. 

Merx (mercis), goods; merchandise (F.), 
commerce (F.), merchant (F.) 

Miles (milites), a soldier; military, mili- 
tant, militia. 

Miror, / admire; admirable, miracle, 
mirage (F.) 

Mitto (missum), I send; commit, missile, 
mission, remittance. 

Modus, a measure; mood, modify, accom- 
modate. 

Moneo (monitum), I advise; monition, 
monitor, monument. 

Mons (montis), a mountain; amount (F.), 
dismount (F.), promontory, ultramon- 
tane. 

Mors (mortis), death ; mortify, mortal, 
immortality. 

Moveo (motum), I move ; mobile (F ), 
promote, motor, motive. 

Multus, many ; multitude, multiple, mul- 
tiply. 

Munus (muneris), a gift; munificent, re- 
munerate, municipal. 

Muto, I change ; mutable, transmute. 

Nascor (natus), to be born; nascent, natal, 
nativity, nature. 

Navis, a ship; navy, naval, navigate, 
nave. 

Necto (nexura), I tie; connect, connec- 
tion, annex. 

Nego (negatum), J deny ; negative, nega- 
tion, renegade (Sp.) 



Noceo, J injure ; noxious, innocuous, in- 
nocent. 

Nomen, a name ; nominal, cognomen, no- 
mination. 

Novus, new; novel, renovate, novelty, 
innovation. 

Nox (noctis), night; nocturnal, equinoc- 
tial, equinox. 

Nudus, naked; nude, denude, denudation. 

Numerus, a number; numeration, in- 
numerable, enumerate. 

Octo, eight; octave, octagon, October. 

Omnis, all; omnibus, omnipotent, om- 
niscient. 

Opus (operis), work; operation, co-oper- 
ate, opera. 

Ordo (ordinis), order; ordinal, ordinary 
ordinance. 

Oro, I pray ; oration, orator, peroration. 

Pando (pansum or passum), / spread ; ex- 
pand, expanse, compass, pace. 

Pareo, I appear; appearance, apparent, 
apparition. 

Paro (paratum), I prepare; repair (F.), 
apparatus, comparison (F.) 

Pars (partis), a part; particle, partition, 
partner, parcel (F.) 

Pasco (pastum), I feed; pastor, repast, 
pasture. 

Pater, a father; paternal, parricide (F.), 
patrimony. 

Patior (passus), I suffer ; impatient, pas- 
sive, passion. 

Pax (pacis), peace; pacify, pacific. 

Pello (pulsum), J drive; repel, expel, ex- 
pulsion, impulsive. 

Pendeo (pensum), 1 hang; pendant, de* 
pend, suspend, suspense, appendix. 

Pes (pedis), the foot ; pedal, impede, ped- 
estrian, biped. 

Peto (petitum), I seek; petition, petulant, 
compete, appetite. 

Planus, level; plan (F.), plane, plain, ex- 
plain. 

Plaudo (plausum), I clap the hands; ap- 
plaud, plausible (F.), explode. 

Pleo (pletum), I fill ; complete, comple- 
tion, supplement. 

Plico (plicatum), I fold; complicated, pli- 
able (F.), reply (F.), display (F.), simple. 

Poena, punishment; penal, repent, pen- 
alty, penitent, penance. 

Pono (positum), / place ; deponent, posi- 
tion, imposition, post. 

Pons (pontis), a bridge; pontiff, transpon- 
tine. 



WORD-BRANCHING. 



151 



Porto, I carry; export, deportment, re- 
port, portmanteau (F.) 

Possum, I am able; potens, able; pos- 
sible, potency (F.), impotent. 

Prehendo (prehensum), (Fr. prendre, 
pris), 1 take; prehensile, comprehend, 
apprise, comprise, apprentice (F.) 

Primus, first; primary, primitive, prim- 
rose. 

Probo, / try, prove ; probe, probable, im- 
prove (F.), approve (F.) 

Proprius, one's own; proper, property, 
appropriation. 

Pungo (punctum), 7 prick; pungent, ex- 
punge, punctual, poignant (F.) 

Puto (putatum), I cut, think; compute, 
count (F ), amputate, reputation. 

Quatuor, four; quadra, a square; quart, 
quarter, quarry (F.), quadrant. 

Radix, a root; radical, eradicate, radish 
(F.) 

Rapio (raptum), I seize ; rapture, rapine, 
surreptitious. 

Rego (rectum), I rule; rex (regis), a king; 
regal, regulate, regent, rector, interreg- 
num, royal (F.), realm (N.-Fr. real). 

Rideo (risum), I laugh; ridicule (F.), de- 
ride, ridiculous (F.), risible. 

Rogo (rogatum), I ask; rogation, interro- 
gation, derogatory. 

Rota, a wheel; rotary, rotation, rotund 
— contracted into round (F.) 

Rumpo (ruptum), I break ; rupture, erup- 
tion, disruption. 

Sacer, sacred ; sacrament, sacrilege (F.), 
sacerdotal, sexton (contracted from 
sacristan). 

Salio (saltum), I leap; sally (F.), assail 
(F.), salient, salmon. 

Sanctus, holy ; sanctuary, sanctify, saint 
(F.) 

Scando (scansum), I climb ; scala, a lad- 
der; scan, scale, descent, ascension. 

Scio, I know; science, scientific, con- 
science, omniscient. 

Scribo (scriptum), I write ; scribe, scrib- 
ble, scripture, inscription, postscript. 

Seco (sectum), I cut; bisect, dissect, in- 
sect, section. 

Sedeo (sessura), I set, sit ; sediment, sub- 
side, see (F.), residence (F.), insidious. 

Sentio, I feel ; sense, sentiment, sensual, 
scent (F.) 

Septem, seven; septennial, September. 

Sequor (secutus), I follow ; sequence (F.), 
sequel, consequent, prosecute. 



Servio, I serve ; service (F.), servant, ser- 
geant (F.) 

Signum, a sign; signify, significant, des- 
ignation, ensign (F.) 

Similis, like; similar, similitude, resemble 
(F.) 

Socius, a companion; social, society, as- 
sociation. 

Solus, alone; solitude, sole, solo (It.) 

Solvo (solutum), 1 loose; dissolve, resolve 
absolute, resolution. 

Specio (spectum), I see; aspect, spectator, 
specimen, spectre. 

Spero, I hope; despair (F.), desperate. 

Spiro, 1 breathe; inspire, aspire, con- 
spiracy. 

Statuo, I set up; sto (statum), I stand; 
statue, statute, stature, institute. 

Stringo (strictum), I bind ; stringent, 
constrain (F.), district. 

Struo (structum), I build ; structure, con- 
struct, obstruct, construe. 

Sumo (sumptum), I take; assume, con- 
sume, assumption. 

Tango (tactum), I touch; tangible, tan- 
gent, contact, contagious. 

Tego (tectum), I cover ; integument, de- 
tect, tile (F.) ; from Lat. tegida. 

Tempus (temporis), time; temporal, con- 
temporary, extempore. 

Tendo (tensum), I stretch; contend, ex- 
tend, attend, tense (F.), tendon. 

Teneo (tentum), I hold; tenant, tenet, 
tendril, detain (F.), retentive. 

Terminus, an end, boundary ; terminate, 
term, interminable. 

Terra, the earth ; subterranean, terrestrial, 
Mediterranean. 

Terreo, I frighten; terror, terrify, deter. 

Texo (textum), I weave; textile, text, 
texture, context. 

Timeo, 1 fear ; timid, timorous. 

Torqueo (tortum), I twist; torture, tor- 
ment, contortion, retort. 

Traho (tractum), I draw; traction, sub- 
tract, contraction, tract. 

Tres (tria), three ; trefoil, trident, trinity. 

Tribuo, I give; tribute, tributary, con- 
tribution. 

Tumeo, I swell; tumulus, a swelling or 
mound; tumult, tumour, tomb (F.) 

TJnus, one ; union, unit, unite, uniform, 
unique (F.) 

Urbs, a city; suburb, urbanity, urbane. 

Valeo, I am strong ; valour, valiant (F.), 
prevail (F.) 



152 



GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Vanus, empty; vanity, vanish, vain(F.) 

Veho (vectum), I convey ; vehicle, con- 
veyance (F.), convex. 

Venio, I come ; venture, advent, convene, 
covenant (F.) 

Verbum, a word; verb, adverb, verbose, 
verbal, proverb. 

Verto (versum), I turn; convert, revert, 
divert, versatile. 

"Veros, true; verity, verify, aver, verdict. 

Via, a way ; deviate, previous, trivial. 

Video (visum), I see; vision, provide, visit 
(F.), revise (F.) 

Vinco (victum), I conquer ; victor, con- 
vict, victory, convince. 



Vitium, a fault; vice (F.), vitiate, vicious 
(F.) 

Vivo (victum), Hive; vivid, revive, viands 
(F.), survive. 

Voco (vocatum), I call; vocal, vowel (F.), 
vocation, revoke, vociferate. 

Volo, I wish; volition, voluntary, benev- 
olence. 

Volvo (volutum), I roll; revolve, involve, 
evolution, volume. 

Vovoo (votum), I vow ; vote, devote, vow 
(F.) 

Vulgus, the common people; vulgar, di- 
vulge, vulgate. 



GREEK ROOTS. 



AgSn, a contest ; agony, antagonist. 

Alios, another; allopathy, allegory. 

Angelos, a messenger; angel, evangelist. 

Anthropos, a man ; misanthrope, philan- 
thropy. 

Archo, J begin, rule; monarch, archaic, 
archbishop, archdeacon. 

Arithmos, number; arithmetic. 

Aster or astron, a star ; astronomy, astro- 
logy, asteroid, disaster. 

Atmos, vapour ; atmosphere, 

Autos, self; autocrat, autograph. 

Ballo, I throw ; symbol, parable. 

Bapto, / dip; baptise, baptist. 

Baros, weight; barometer, baritone. 

Biblos, a book ; Bible, bibliomania. 

Bios, life; biography, biology, amphi- 
bious. 

Cheir, the hand; surgeon polder form, 
chirurgeon], 

Chole, bile; melancholy, choler. 

Chrio, I anoint ; Christ, chrism. 

Chronos, time; chronology, chronic, chron- 
icle, chronometer. 

Daktulos, a finger; dactyl, pterodactyl, 
date (the fruit). 

Deka, ten; decagon, decalogue, decade. 

Demos, the people; democrat, endemic, 
epidemic. 

Dokeo, I think; doxa and dogma, an 
opinion; doxology, orthodox, hetero- 
dox, dogma, dogmatic. 

Drao, / do ; drama, dramatic. 

Dunamis, power ; dynamics, dynamite. 

Eidos, form ; kaleidoscope, spheroid. 



Eikon, an image ; iconoclast. 

Electron, amber; electricity, electrotype. 

Ergon, a work; surgeon (= chirurgeon), 
energy, metallurgy. 

Eu, well; eucharist, euphony, evangelist. 

Gamos, marriage; bigamy, monogamist, 
misogamy. 

Ge, the earth; geography, geometry, geo- 
logy- 

Gennao, I produce; genesis, genealogy, 
hydrogen, oxygen. 

Grapho, I write ; gramma, a letter ; gra- 
phic, grammar, telegraph, biography, 
diagram. 

Haima, blood; haemorrhage, haemorrhoid. 

Haireo, / take away ; heresy, heretic. 

Hecaton, a hundred; hecatomb, hecto- 
metre. 

Helios, the sun ; heliograph, heliotype. 

Hemi, half; hemisphere. 

Hieros, sacred ; hierarchy, hieroglyphic. 

Hippos, a horse; hippopotamus, hippo- 
drome. 

Hodos, a way ; method, period, exodus. 

Homos, the same; homoeopathy, homo- 
geneous. 

Hudor, water; hydraulic, hydrophobia, 
hydrogen. 

Ichthus, a fish; ichthyology. 

Idios, one's own ; idiom, idiot, idiosyn- 
crasy. 

Isos, equal; isochronous, isobaric (of equal 
weight), isosceles. 

Kalos, beautiful; caligraphy, kaleidoscope. 

Kephale, the head ; hydrocephalus. 



WORD-BEANCHING. 



153 



Klino, I bend ; clinical, climax, climate. 

Kosmos, order; cosmogony, cosmography, 
cosmetic. 

Krino, J judge ; critic, criterion, hypo- 
crite. 

Kuklos, a circle; cycle, cycloid, cyclone. 

Kuon (kun-os), a dog ; cynic, cynicism. 

Lego, I say, choose ; eclectic, lexicon. 

Lithos, a stone lithograph, aerolite. 

Ldgos, a word, speech ; logic, dialogue, 
geology. 

Luo, I loosen; dialysis, analysis, paralysis. 

Meter, a mother ; metropolis, metropo- 
litan. 

Metron, a measure ; metre, metronome, 
diameter, thermometer, barometer. 

Monos, alone ; monastery, monogram, mo- 
nosyllable, monopoly, monarch. 

Morphe, shape ; amorphous, dimorphous, 
metamorphic. 

Naus, a ship ; nautical, nausea. 

Nekros, a dead body; necropolis, necro- 
mancy. 

Nomos, a law ; autonomous, astronomy, 
Deuteronomy. 

Oikos, a house ; economy, economical. 

Onoma, a name ; anonymous, synony- 
mous, patronymic. 

Optomai, / see ; optics, synoptical. 

Orthos, right : orthodoxy, orthography. 

Pais (paid-os), a boy ; pedagogue [lit. a 
boy-leader]. 

Pan, all • pantheist, panoply, pantomime. 

Pathos, feeling; pathetic, sympathy. 

Pente, five , pentagon, pentateuch, Pente- 
cost. 

Petra, a rock ; petrify, petrel, Peter. 

Phainomai, I appear ; phenomenon, phan- 
tasy, phantom, fantastic, fancy. 

Phero, I bear ; periphery, phosphorus 
[=the light-bearerj. 



Phileo, I love; philosophy, Philadelphia, 
philharmonic. 

Phone, a sotind ; phonic, phonetic, eu- 
phony, symphony. 

Phos (phot-os), light ; photometer, photo- 
graph. 

Phusis, nature; physics, physiology, phy- 
sician. 

Poieo, I make: poet, poetic, pharmacopoeia. 

Polis, a city ; Constantinople, metropolis. 

Polus, many ; polytheist, Polynesia, poly- 
anthus, polygamy. 

Pous (p5d-os), afoot; antipodes, tripod. 

Protos, first ; prototype, protoplasm. 

Pur, fire ; pyrotechnic, pyre. 
| Rheo, I flow ; rhetoric, catarrh, rheu- 
I matic. 

Skdpeo, I see; microscope, telescope, 
spectroscope, bishop Ifrom episkopos, 
an overseer]. 

Sophia, wisdom. ; sophist, philosophy. 

Stello, I send ; apostle, epistle. 

Stratos, an army ; strategy, strategic. 

Strepho, I turn ; catastrophe, apostrophe. 

Techne, an art ; technical. 

Tele, distant; telegraph, telescope, tele- 
phone, telegram. 

Temno, I cut ; anatomy, lithotomy, 

Tetra, four ; tetrachord, tetrarch. 

Theaomai, I see; theatre, theory. 

Theos, a god : theist, enthusiast, theology. 

Therme, heat ; thermal, thermometer, 
isotherm. 

Tithemi, I place : thesis, a placing ; syn- 
thesis, hypothesis. 

Treis, three; triangle, trigonometry, tri- 
pod, trinity, trichord. 

Trepo, I turn ; trophy, tropic, heliotrope. 

Tupos, the impress of a seal; type, stereo« 
type. 

Zoon, an animal; zoology, zodiac. 



WORDS DERIVED PROM THE NAMES OP 
PERSONS, ETC. 

Argosy, a corruption of Ragosie, "a ship of Ragusa," Ragusa being a 

port in Dalmatia, on the East Coast of the Gulf of Venice. Used by 

Shakespeare, in the "Merchant of Venice," i. 1. 9, in the sense of 

trading vessel. 
Assassins, the name of a fanatical Syrian sect of the thirteenth century, 

who, under the influence of a drug prepared from hemp, called has- 

chisch, rushed into battle against the Crusaders, and slaughtered 

many of their foes. 
Atlas, one of the Titans, or earlier gods, who was so strong that he was said 

to carry the world on his shoulders. 
August, from Augustus Caesar, the second Emperor of Rome. 
Bacchanalian, from the festival called Bacchanalia; from Bacchus, the 

Roman god of wine. 
Boycott (to), from Captain Boycott, a land agent in the west of Ireland, 

who was " sent to Coventry " by all his neighbours ; they would neither 

speak to him, buy from him, or sell to him — by order of the " Irish 

Land League." 
Chimera, a totally imaginary and grotesque image or conception ; from 

Chimsera, a monster in the Greek mythology, half goat, half lion. 
Cicerone, a guide ; from Cicero, the greatest Roman orator and writer of 

speeches that ever lived. (Guides who described antiquities, etd were 

supposed to be as "fluent as Cicero.") 
Cravat, from the Croats or Crabali of Croatia, who supplied an army 

corps to Austria, in which long and large neck-ties were worn by the 

soldiers. 
Dahlia, from Dahl, a Swedish botanist, who introduced the flower into 

Europe. 
Draconian (code), a very severe code ; from Draco, a severe Athenian legis- 
lator, who decreed death for every crime, great or small. His laws 

were said to have been " written in blood. " 
Dunce, from Duns Scotus, a great philosopher (or " schoolman ") of the 

Middle Ages, who died 1308. The followers of Thomas Aquinas 

called "Thomists," looked down upon those of Duns, who were called 

"Scotists," and in course of time "Dunces." 



WORDS DERIVED FROM THE NAMES OF PERSONS. 155 

Epicure, a person fond of good living ; from Epicurus, a great Greek phil- 
osopher. His enemies misrepresented him as teaching that pleasure 
was the highest or chiefest good. 

Euphuistic (style), a style of high-flown refinement ; from Euphues (the 
"veil-born man), the title of a book written in the reign of Elizabeth, 
Dy John Lyly, which introduced a too ingenious and far-fetched way 
of speaking and writing in her Court. 

Fauna, the collective name for all the animals of a region or country ; from 
Faunus, a Roman god of the woods and country. (The Fauni were 
minor rural deities of Rome, who had the legs, feet, and ears of a goat, 
and the other parts of the body of a human shape.) 

Flora, the collective name for all the plants and flowers of a region or 
country ; from Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. 

Galvanism, from Galvani, an Italian physicist, lecturer on anatomy at 
Bologna, who discovered, by experiments on frogs, that animals are 
endowed with a certain kind of electricity. 

Gordian (knot), the knot tied by Gordius a king of Phrygia, who had been 
originally a peasant. The knot by which he tied the draught-pole 
of his chariot to the yoke was so intricate, that no one could untie it. 
A rumour spread that the oracle had stated that the empire of Asia 
would belong to him who should untie the Gordian knot. Alexander 
the Great, to encourage his soldiers, tried to untie it ; but, finding 
that he could not, he cut it through with his sword, and declared that 
he had thus fulfilled the. oracle. 

Guillotine, an instrument for beheading at one stroke, used in France. 
It was invented during the time of the Revolution by Dr Guillotin. 

Hansom (cab), from the name of its inventor. 

Hector (to), to talk big; from Hector, the bravest of the Trojans, as 
Achilles was the bravest of the Grecian chiefs. 

Hermetically (sealed), so sealed as to entirely exclude the outer air ; 
from Hermes, the name of the Greek god who corresponds to the 
Roman god Mercury. Hermes was fabled to be the inventor of 
chemistry. 

Jacobin, a revolutionist of the extremest sort ; from the hall of the 
Jacobin Friars in Paris, where the revolutionists used to meet. 
Robespierre was for some time their chief. 

Jacobite, a follower of the Stuart family ; from James II. (in Latin 
Jacobus), who was driven from the English throne in 1688. 

January, from the Roman god Janus, a god with two faces, "looking 
before and after." 

Jovial, with the happy temperament of a person born under the influence 
of the star Jupiter or Jove ; a term taken from the old astrology. 
(Opposed to saturnine, gloomy, because born under the star Saturn.) 

July, from Julius, in honour of Julius Csesar, the great Roman general, 
writer, and statesman — who was born in this month. 

Lazarettor or Lazar-house, from Lazarus, the beggar at the gate of 



156 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Dives, in Luke xvi. The word is corrupted into lizard in Lizard- 
point, where a lazar-house once stood, for the reception of sick people 
from on board ship. 

Lynch-law, from a famous Judge Lynch, of Tennessee, who made short 
work of his trials, and then of his criminals. 

Macadamise, to make roads of fragments of stones, which afterwards 
cohere in one mass ; from John Loudon Macadam, the inventor, who, 
in 1827, received from the Government a reward of £10,000 for hia 
plan. 

March, from Mars, the Roman god of war. 

Martinet, a severe disciplinarian, with an eye for the smallest details ; 
from General Martinet, a strict commander of the time of Louis XIV. 
of France. 

Mausoleum, a splendidly built tomb ; from Maus51us, King of Caria in 
Asia Minor, to whom his widow erected a gorgeous burial-chamber. 

Mentor, an adviser ; from Mentor, the aged counsellor of Telemachus, the 
son of Ulysses. 

Mercurial, of light, airy, and quick-spirited temperament, as having been 
born under the planet Mercury (compare Jovial, Saturnine, etc. ) 

Panic, a sudden and unaccountable terror ; from Pan, the god of flocks 
and shepherds. He was fabled to appear suddenly to travellers. 

Parrot ( = Little Peter, or PeterJciri), from the French Perrot = Pierrot, 
from Pierre, Peter. Compare Magpie = Margaret Pie; Jackdaw; 
Robin-redbreast ; Cuddy (from Cuthbert), a donkey, etc. 

Petrel, the name of a sea-bird that skims the tops of the waves in a storm, 
the diminutive of Peter. It is an allusion to Matthew xiv. 29. These 
birds are called by sailors "Mother Carey's chickens." 

Phaeton, a kind of carriage ; from Phaethon, a son of Apollo, who received 
from his father permission to guide the chariot of the Sun for a single 
day. 

Philippic, a violent political speech directed against a person ; from the 
orations made by Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator, against 
Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. 

Plutonic (rocks), igneous rocks (created by the action of fire) — in oppo- 
sition to sedimentary rocks, which have been formed by the depositing 
action of water ; from Pluto, the Roman god of the infernal regions. 

Protean, assuming many shapes ; from Proteus, a sea-deity, who had 
received the gift of prophecy from Neptune, but who was very 
difficult to catch, as he could take whatever form he pleased. 

Quixotic, fond of utterly impracticable designs ; from Don Quixote, the 
hero of the national Spanish romance, by Cervantes. Don Quixote is 
made to tilt at windmills, proclaim and make war against whole 
nations by himself, and do many other chivalrous and absurd 
things. 

Simony, the fault of illegally buying and selling church livings ; from 
Simon Magus. (See Acts viii. 18.) 



WORDS DERIVED FROM THE NAMES OF PERSONS. 157 

Stentorian, very loud and strong ; from Stentor, whom Homer describes 
as the loudest-voiced man in the Grecian army that was besieging 
Troy. 

Tantalise, to tease with impossible hopes ; from Tantalus, a king of 
Lydia in Asia Minor. He offended the gods, and was placed in 
Hades up to his lips in a pool of water, which, when he attempted to 
drink it, ran away ; and with bunches of grapes over his head, which, 
when he tried to grasp them, were blown from his reach by a blast of 
wind. 

Tawdry, shabby — a term often applied to cheap finery ; from St 
Ethelreda, which became St Audrey : originally applied to clothes 
sold at St Audrey's fair. (Compare Tooley from St Olave ; Ted from 
St Edmund; etc.) 

Volcano and Vulcanite, from the Roman god of fire and smiths, Vulcanus. 
A volcano was regarded as the chimney of one of his workshops. 



WORDS DERIVED PROM THE NAMES OF 
PLACES. 

Academy, from Academia, the house of Academus, a friend of the great 
Greek philosopher Plato, who was allowed to teach his followers 
there. Plato taught either in Academus's garden, or in his own 
house. 

Artesian (well), from Artois, the name .of an old province in the north- 
west of France, the inhabitants of which were accustomed to pierce 
the earth for water. 

Bayonet, from Bayonne, in the south of France, on the Bay of Biscay. 
(Compare Pistol from Pistoia, a town in the north of Italy. ) 

Bedlam, the name for a lunatic asylum — a corruption of the word Beth- 
lehem (Hospital). 

Cambric, the name of the finest kind of linen ; from Cambray, a town in 
French Flanders, in the north-west of France. 

Canter, an easy and slow gallop ; from the pace assumed by the Canter- 
bury Pilgrims, when riding along the green lanes of England to the 
shrine of Thomas a Becket. 

Carronade, a short cannon ; from Carron, in Stirlingshire, Scotland, 
where it was first made. 

Cherry ; from Cerasus, a town in Pontus, Asia Minor, where it was much 
grown. 

Copper and Cypress ; from the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean. 

Currants, small dried grapes from Corinth, in Greece, where they are still 
grown in large quantities. They are shipped at the port of Patras. 

Damson, a contraction of damascene ; from Damascus = the Damascus 
plum. (Hence also darnash.) 

Dollar, a coin — the chief coin used in America ; from German Thaler 
( = Baler, or something made in a dale or valley). The first coins of 
this sort were made in St Joachimsthal in Bohemia, and were called 
Joachim's thaler. 

Elysian (used with fields or bliss), from Elysium, the place to which the 
souls of brave Greeks went after death. 

Ermine, the fur worn on judges' robes ; from Armenia, because this fur 
is "the spoil of the Armenian rat." 



WORDS DERIVED FROM THE NAMES OF PLACES. 159 

Florin, a two-shilling piece ; from Florence. Professor Skeat says : 
"Florins were coined by Edward III. in 1337, and named after the 
coins of Florence." 

Gasconading, boasting ; from Gascony, a southern province of France, the 
inhabitants of which were much given to boasting. One Gascon, on 
being shown the Tuileries — the palace of the Kings of France — re- 
marked that it reminded him to some extent of his father's stables, 
which, however, were somewhat larger. 

Gipsy, a corrupt form of the word Egyptian. The Gipsies were supposed 
to come from Egypt. (The French call them Bohemians. ) 

Guinea, a coin value 21s. now quite out of use, except as a name — made 
of gold brought from the Guinea Coast, in the west of Africa. 

Hock, the generic term for all kinds of Rhine-wine, but properly only the 
name of that which comes from Hochheim, a celebrated vineyard. 

Indigo, a blue dye, obtained from the leaves of certain plants ; from the 
Latin adjective Indicus= belonging to India. 

Laconic, short, pithy, and full of sense ; from Laconia, a country in the 
south of Greece, the capital of which was Sparta or Lacedsemon. 
The Laconians, and especially the Spartans, were little given to talk j 
ing, unlike their lively rivals, the Athenians. 

Lilliputian, very small ; from Lilliput, the name of the imaginary country 
of extremely small men and women, visited by Captain Lemuel 
Gulliver, the hero of Swift's tale called ' Gulliver's Travels.' 

Lumber, useless things ; from Lombard, the Lombards being famous for 
money-lending. The earliest kind of banking was pawnbroking ; and 
pawnbrokers placed their pledges in the " Lombard-room," which, as it 
gradually came to contain all kinds of rubbish, came also to mean and 
to be called "lumber-room." In America, timber is called lumber. 

Meander (to), to "wind about and in and out ;" from the Mseander, a 
very winding river in the plain of Troy, in Caria, in the north-west 
of Asia Minor. 

Magnesia and Magnet, from Magnesia, a town in Thessaly, in the north 
of Greece. 

Milliner, originally a dealer in wares from Milan, a large city in the north 
of Italy, in the plain of the Po. 

Muslin, from Mosul, a town in Asiatic Turkey, on the Tigris. 

Palace, from the Latin palatium, a building on Mons Palatums, one of 
the seven hills of Rome. This building became the residence of 
Augustus and other Roman emperors ; and hence palace came to be 
the generic term for the house of a king or ruling prince. Palatinus, 
itself comes from Pales, a Roman goddess of flocks, and is connected 
with the Lat. pater, a father or feeder. 

Peach, from Lat. Persicum (malum), the Persian apple, from Persia. 
The r has been gradually absorbed. 

Pheasant, from the Phasis, a river of Colchis in Asia Minor, at the eastern 
end of the Black Sea, from which these birds were first brought. 



160 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Port, a wine from Oporto, in Portugal. (Compare Sherry from Xeres, in 

the south of Spain.) 
Rhubarb, from Rha barbarum, the wild Rha plant. Rha is an old name 

for the Volga, from the banks of which this plant was imported. 
Solecism, a blunder in the use of words ; from Soli, a town in Cilicia, 

in Asia Minor, the inhabitants of which used a mixed dialect. 
Spaniel, a sporting-dog remarkable for its sense ; from Spain. The best 

kinds are said to come from Hispaniola, an island in the West Indies, 

now called Hayti. 
Stoic, from Stoa Poikile, the Painted Porch, a porch in Athens, where 

Zeno, the founder of the Stoic School, taught hi° disciples. 
Utopian, impossible to realise ; from Utopia ( = Nowhere), the title of a 

story written by Sir Thomas More, in which he ^escribed, under the 

guise of an imaginary island, the probable state oi England, if her 

laws and customs were reformed. 



WORDS DISGUISED IN FORM. 

When a word is imported from a foreign language into our 
own, there is a natural tendency among the people who use the 
word to give it a native and homely dress, and so to make it 
look like English. This is especially the case with proper 
names. Thus the walk through St James's Park from Bucking- 
ham Palace to the House of Commons was called Bocage Walk 
(that is, shrubbery walk) ; but, as Bocage was a strange word to 
the Londoner, it became quickly corrupted into Birdcage Walk, 
though there is not, and never was, auy sign of birdcages in the 
neighbourhood. Birdcage is a known word, Bocage is not — 
that is the whole matter. In the same way, our English sailors, 
when they captured the French ship Bellerophon, spoke of it as 
the Billy Ruffian ; and our English soldiers in India mentioned 
Surajah Dowlah, the prince who put the English prisoners into 
the Black Hole, as Sir Roger Dowler. The same phenomenon 
is observed also in common names — and not infrequently. The 
following are some of the most remarkable examples : — 

Alligator, from Spanish el lagarto, the lizard. The article el (from Latin 
iUe) has clung to the word. Lat. lacerta, a lizard. (The Arabic 
article al has clung to the noun in alchemy, algebra, almanac, etc.) 

Artichoke (no connection with chohe), from Ital. articiocco ; from Arabic 
al harshaff, an artichoke. 

Atonement, a hybrid — atone being English, and ment a Latin ending. 
Atone = to bring or come into one. Shakespeare has "Earthly things, 
made even, atone together." 

Babble, from ba and the frequentative le ; it means "to keep on saying " ba. 

Bank, a form of the word bench, a money-table. 

Belfry (nothing to do with bell), from M. E. berfray ; 0. Fr. berfroit, a 
watch-tower. 



162 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Brimstone, from bum.- The r is an easily moved letter — as in three, thira ; 

turn, trundle, etc. 
Bugle, properly a wild ox. Bugle, in the sense of a musical instrument, 

is really short for bugle-horn. Lat. buculus, a bullock, a diminutive 

of bos. 
Bustard, from 0. Fr. oustarde, from Lat. avis tarda, the tardy or slow 

bird. 
Butcher, from 0. Fr. bocher, a man who slaughters he-goats ; from boc, 

the French form of buck. 
Butler, the servant in charge of the butts or casks of wine. (The whole 

collection of butts was called the buttery ; a little butt is a bottle. ) 
Buxom, stout, healthy; but in 0. E. obedient. "Children, be buxom t© 

your parents." Connected with bow and bough. From A. S. bugan, 

to bend ; which gives also bow, bight, boat, etc. 
Carfax, a place where four roads meet. 0. Fr. carrefourgs ; Latin quatuor 

furcas, four forks. 
Carouse, from German gar aus, quite out. Spoken of emptying a goblet. 
Caterpillar = hairy-cat, from 0. Fr. chate, a she-cat, and 0. Fr. pelouse, 

hairy, Lat. pilosus. Compare woolly -bear. 
Causeway (no connection with way), from Fr. chausee ; Lat. calceata via, a 

way strewed with limestone ; from Lat. calx, lime. 
Clove, through Fr. clou, from Lat. clavus, a nail, from its resemblance to 

a small nail. 
Constable, from Lat. comes stabuli, count of the stable ; hence Master of 

the Horse ; and, in the 13th century, commander of the king's army. 
Coop, a cognate of cup ; from Lat. cupa, a tub. 
Cope, a later spelling of cape. Cap, cape, and cope are forms of the same 

word. 
Costermonger, properly costard-monger ; from costard, a large apple. 
Counterpane (not at all connected with counter or with pane, but with 

quilt and point), a coverlet for a bed. The proper form is contre- 

pointe, from Low Lat. culcita puncta, a punctured quilt. 
Country-dance, (not connected with country), a corruption of the French 

contre-danse ; a dance in which each dancer stands contre or contra or 

opposite his partner. 
Coward, an animal that drops his tail. 0. Fr. col and ard ; from Lat. 

cauda, a tail. 
Crayfish, (nothing to do with fish), from 0. Fr. escrevisse. This is really 

a Frenchified form of the German word Krebs, which is the German 

form of our English word crab. The true division of the word into 

syllables is crayf-ish ; and thus the seeming connection with fish dis- 
appears. 
Custard, a misspelling of the M. E. word crustade, a general name for pies 

made with crust. 
Daisy = day's eye. Chaucer says : " The dayes eye or else the eye of 

day." 



WORDS DISGUISED IN FORM. 1Q$ 

Dandelion = dent de lion, the lion's tooth ; so named from its jagged 
leaves. 

Dirge, a funeral song of sorrow. In the Latin service for the dead, one part 
began with the words (Ps. v. 8) dirige, Dominus meus, in conspectu 
tuo vitam meam, " Direct my life, O Lord, in thy sight ; " and dirige 
was contracted into dirge. 

Drawing-room = withdrawing-room, a room to which guests retire after 
dinner. 

Dropsy (no connection with drop), from 0. Fr. hydropisce, from Gr. 
hudor, water. (Compare chirurgeon, which lias been shortened into 
surgeon; example, into sample; estate, into state.) 

Easel, a diminutive of the word ass, through the Dutch ezel ; like the 
Latin asellus. 

Farthing = fourthing. (Four appears a.s fir in firkin ; and as /or in forty.) 

Frontispiece (not connected with piece), that which is seen or placed in 
front. Lat. specio, I see. 

Gadfly = goad-fly (sting-fly). 

Gospel = God -spell, a narrative about God. 

Grove, originally a lane cut through trees. A doublet of groove, and 
grave, from A. S. grafan, to dig. 

Haft, that by which we have or hold a thing. 

Hamper, old form, hanaper ; from Low Latin hanaperium, a large basket 
for keeping drinking-cups (hana}n) in. 

Handsel, money given into the hand ; from A. S. sellan, to give. 

Hanker, to keep the mind hanging on a thing. Er is a frequentative suffix, 
as in batter, linger, etc. 

Harbinger, a man who goes before to provide a harbour or lodging-place 
for an army. The n is intrusive, as in porringer, passenger, and mes- 
senger. (The ruins of old Roman villas were often used by English 
travellers as inns. Such places were called " Cold Harbours." There 
are seventy places of this name in England — all on the great Roman 
roads. ) 

Hatchment, the escutcheon, shield, or coat-of-arms of a deceased person, 
displayed in front of his house. A corruption (by the intrusion of h) 
of atch'ment, the short form of atchievement, the old spelling of 
achievement, which is still the heraldic word for hatchment. 

Hawthorn = hedge-thorn. Haw was in 0. E. haga ; and the hard g 
became a w ; and also became softened, under French influence, into 
dg.Haha, older form Hawhaw, is a sunk fence. 

Heaven, that which is heaved up ; heavy, that which requires much 
heaving. 

Horehound (not connected with hound), a plant with stems covered with 
white woolly down. The M. E. form is hoar-hune ; and the second 
syllable means scented. The syllable hoar means white, as in hoar- 
frost. The final d is excrescent or inorganic — like the d in sound, bound 
(= read3 r to go), etc. 



164 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Humble-bee (not connected with the adjective humble), from M. E. 
hummelen, to keep humming — a frequentative ; the b being in- 
organic. 

Humble-pie (not connected with the adjective humble), pie made of 
umbles, the entrails of a deer. 

Husband, (not connected with bind), from Icelandic husbuandi, buandi, 
being the pres. participle of bua, to dwell ; and hus, house. 

Hussif (connected with house, but not with wife), a case containing needles, 
thread, etc. From Icelandic, husi, a case, a cognate of house. The f 
is intrusive, from a mistaken opinion that the word was a short form 
of housewife. 

Hussy, a pert girl ; a corruption of housewife. 

Icicle, (the ending cle is not the diminutive) a hanging point of ice. The 
A. S. form is isgicel, a compound of is, ice, and gicel, a small piece of 
ice ; so that the word contains a redundant element. (The ic in icicle is 
entirely different from the ic in art-ic-le and in part-ic-le.) 

Intoxicate, to drug or poison ; from Low Lat. toxicum, poison ; from Gr. 
toxon, a bow, plural toxa, bow and arrows — arrows for war being fre- 
quently dipped in poison. 

Island (not connected with isle) — water-land, a misspelling for Hand (the 
spelling that Milton always uses). The s has intruded itself from a 
confusion with the Lat. insula, which gives isle. 

Jaw, properly chaw, the noun for chew. Cognates are jowl and chaps. 

Jeopardy, hazard, danger. M. E. jupartie, from 0. Fr. jeu parti, a game 
in which the chances are even, from Low Lat. jocus partltus, a divided 
game. 

Jerusalem artichoke (not at all connected with Jerusalem), a kind of sun- 
flower. Italian girasole, from Lat. gyrus, a circle, and sol, the sun. 
(In order to clench the blunder contained in the word Jerusalem, 
cooks call a soup made of this kind of artichoke "Palestine soup ! ") 

Kickshaws, from Fr. quelquechose, something. There was once a plural 
— hichshawses. 

Kind, the adjective from the noun kin. 

T jedge, a place on which a thing lies. Hence also ledger. 

Line (to line garments) = to put linen inside them. {Linen is really an 
adjective from the M. E. lin, just like woollen, golden, etc.) 

Liquorice (not connected with liquor), in M. E. licoris ; from Gr. 
glykyrrhiza, a sweet root. (For the loss of the initial g, compare 
Ipswich and Gyppenswich ; enough and genoh; and the loss of ge 
from all the past participles of our verbs.) 

Mead, meadow = a place mowed. Hence also math, aftermath, and moth 
( = the biter or eater). 

Nostrils = nose-thirles, nose-holes. Thirl is a cognate of thrill, drill, 
through, etc. (For change of position of r, compare turn, trundle; 
work, wright ; wort, root ; bride, bird, etc. ) 

Nuncheon, a corruption of M. E. none-schencke, or noon-drink. Then 



WORDS DISGUISED IN FORM. 165 

this word got mixed up with the provincial English word lunch, 

which means a lump of bread ; and so we have luncheon. 
Nutmeg, a hybrid compounded of an English and a French word. Meg is a 

corruption of the 0. Fr. musge, from Lat. museum, musk. 
Orchard = wort-yard, yard or garden for roots or plants. Wort is a 

cognate of wart and root. 
Ostrich, from Lat. avis struthio. Shakespeare spells it estridge in " Antony 

and Cleopatra," hi. 13. 197, "The dove will peck the estridge." (Avx* 

is found as a prefix in bustard also. ) 
Pastime = that which enables one to pass the time. 
Pea-jacket (not connected with pea), a short thick jacket often worn by 

seamen ; from the Dutch pije, a coarse woollen coat. Thus the 

word jacket is superfluous. In M. E. py was a coat ; and we find it 

in Chaucer combining, with a French adjective, to make the hybrid 

courtepy, a short coat. 
Peal (of bells), a short form of the word appeal; a call or summons. 

(Compare penthouse and appentis ; sample and example; scutcheon 

and escutcheon; squire and esquire ; etc.) 
Penthouse (not connected with house), in reality a doublet of appendage, 

though not coming from it. 0. Fr. appsntis, from Lat. appendicium, 

from appendix, something hanging on to. (Pendere, to hang. ) 
Periwinkle, a kind of evergreen plant ; formed, by the addition of the 

diminutive le, from Lat. pervinca, from vinclre, to bind. 
Periwinkle, a small mollusc with one valve. A corruption of the A. S. 

pinewincla, that is, a winkle eaten with a pin. 
Pickaxe (not connected with axe), a tool used in digging. A corruption 

of M. E. pickeys, from 0. Fr. picois ; and connected with peak, pike, 

and pick. 
Poach = to put in the poke, pocket, or pouch. So poached eggs are eggs 

dressed so as to keep the yoke in a pouch. Cognates are pock, small- 
pox (=pocks), etc. 
Porpoise (not connected with the verb poise) ; from Lat. porcum, a pig, 

and piscem, a fish. 
Posthumous (work), a work that appears after the death of the author ; 

from Lat. postumus, the last. The h is an error ; and the word 

has no connection with the Lat. humus, the ground. 
Privet, a half-evergreen shrub. A form of primet, a plant carefully cut and 

trimmed ; and hence prim. (For change of m into v (or p), compare 

Molly and Polly ; Matty and Patty, etc. V and p are both labials.) 
Proxy, a contraction of procuracy, the taking care of a thing for another. 

Lat. pro for, and cura, care. 
Quick, living. We have the word in quicklime, quicksand, quicksilver ; 

and in the phrase "the quick and the dead.'' 
Quinsy, a bad sore throat, a contraction of 0. Fr. squinancie, formed, by 

the addition of a prefixed and strengthening s, from Gr. kynanche, a 

dog-throttling. 



166 GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Riding, one of the three divisions of Yorkshire. The oldest form is Trith- 

ing or Thrithing (from three and ing, part; as in farthing = fourth 

part, etc.) The t or th seems to have dropped from its similarity 

and nearness to the th in north and the t in east ; as in North-thrithing, 

East-trithing, etc. 
Sexton, a corruption of sacristan, the keeper of the sacred vessels and 
I vestments ; from Lat. sacer, sacred. But the sexton is now only the 

grave-digger. (In the same way, sacristy was shortened into sextry.) 
Sheaf a collection shoved together. Shove gives also shovel; and the 

frequentatives shuffle and scuffle. 
Soup, a cognate of sop and sup. 

Splice (to join after splitting), a cognate form of split and splinter. 
Squirrel, from 0. Fr. escurel ; from Low Lat. scuriolus ; from Gr. skia, 

a shadow, and oura, a tail. Hence the word means "shadow-tail." 
Starboard, the steering side of a ship — the right, as one stands looking to 

the bow. 
Stew, the verb corresponding to stove. 
Steward, from A. S. stiward, from the full form stigweard; from stige, a 

sty, and weard, a keeper. Originally a person who looked after the 

domestic animals. 
Stirrup, modern form of A. S. stigrap, from stigan, to climb, and rap, a 

rope. Cognates are sty, stile, stair. 
Straight, an old past participle of stretch. (Strait is a French form of the 

word strict, from Lat. strictus, tied up.) 
Strong, a nasalised form of stark. Derivatives are strength, strengthen, 

string, etc. 
Summerset (not connected either with summer or with set), or somersault, a 

corruption of Fr. soubresault, from Lat. supra, above, and saltum, a 

leap. (There is a connection between the b and the m— the one 

sliding into the other when the speaker has a cold.) 
Surgeon (properly a hand-worker), a contraction of chirurgeon; from 

Gr. cheir, the hand, and ergein, to work. 
Tackle, that which takes or grasps, holding the masts of a ship in their 

places. The le is the same as that in settle (a seat), girdle, etc. 
Tale, from A. S. talu, number. Derivatives are tell and till (box for 

money), but not talk, which is a Scandinavian word. 
Tansy, a tall plant, with small yellow flowers, used in medicine ; from 

0. F. athanasie ; from Gr. athanasia, immortality. 
Thorough, a doublet of through, and found in thorough-fare, thorough- 
bred, etc. (The dr, thr, or tr is also found in door, thrill, trill, drill, 

nostril, etc.) 
Treacle, from M. E. triacle, a remedy; from Lat. theridca, an antidote 

against the bite of serpents ; from Gr. therion, a wild beast or 

poisonous animal. Milton has the phrase " the sovran treacle of 

sound doctrine." (For the position of the r, cDmpare trundle and 

turn; brid and bird; etc.) 



WORDS DISGUISED IN FORM. 167 

Truffle, an underground edible fungus ; from Italian tartufola ; tar 
being = Lat. terrce, of the ground, and tufola = tuber, a root. Trifle 
is a doublet of truffle. 

Twig, a thin branch of a tree. The tw here is the base of two, and is 
found also in twin, twilight, twice, twine ; and probably also in tweak, 
twist, twinkle, etc. (Twit is not in this class ; it comes from at- 
witan, to throw blame on.) 

Verdigris (not connected with grease), the rust of brass or copper. From 
Lat. viride aeris, the green of brass. (The g is intrusive, and has not 
yet been accounted for. ) 

"Walrus, a kind of large seal ; from Swedish vallross = a whale-horse. 
The older form of ross is found in Icelandic as hross, which is a doub- 
let of the A. S. hors. The noise made by the animal somewhat 
resembles a neigh. 

Wassail, a merry carouse ; from A. S. wes hael = Be well ! Wes is the 
imperative of wesan to be (still existing in was) ; and hael is connected 
with hail! hale (Scand. ), whole (Eng. ), and health. 

Whole, a misspelling, now never to be corrected, of hole, the adjective 
connected with hale, heal, health, healthy, etc. The w is probably an 
intrusion from the S.W. of England, where they say whoam for home, 
woat for oat, etc. If we write whole, we ought also to write wholy 
instead of holy. 



WORDS THAT HAVE GREATLY CHANGED 
IN MEANING. 



Abandon, to proclaim openly ; to de- 
nounce ; then to cast o'-it. (From Low 
Lat. bannus, an edict.) The earlier 
meaning still survives in the phrase, 
"banns of marriage." 

Admire, to wonder at. 

Allow, to praise (connected with laud). 

Amuse, to cause to muse, to occupy the 
mind of. " Camillus set upon the Gauls, 
when they were amused in receiving 
their gold," says a writer of the sixteenth 
century. 

Animosity, high spirits; from Lat. ani- 
mosus, brave. 

Artillery (great weapons of war), was used 
to include bows, crossbows, etc., down 
to the time of Milton. See P. L. ii. 715 ; 
and 1 Sam. xx. 40. 

Awkward, going the wrong way. From 
M. E. awk, contrary. "The awk end" 
was the wrong end. "With awkward 
wind " = with contrary wind. 

Babe, doll. Spenser says of a pedlar — 
" He bore a truss of trifles at his back, 
As bells, and babes, and glasses in his 
pack." 

Blackguard, the band of lowest kitchen 
servants, who had to look after the spit. 1 ', 
pots, and pans, etc. 

Bombast (an inflated and pompous style 
of speaking or writing), cotton-wadding. 

Boor (a rough unmannerly fellow), a tiller 
of the soil ; from the Dutch boawen, to 



till. (Compound neighbour.) In South 
Africa, a farmer is 1 still called a boer. 

Brat (a contemptuous name for a child), 
a Celtic word meaning rag. In Walei 
it now means a pinafore. 

Brave, showy, splendid. 

By-and-by, at once. 

Carpet, the covering of tables as well at 
of floors. 

Carriage (that which carries) meant for- 
merly that which was carried, or bag- 
gage. See Acts xxi. 15. 

Cattle, a doublet of chattels, property. 
Lat. capitalia, heads (of oxen, etc.) 
Chaucer says, " The avaricious man hath 
more hope in his catel than in Christ." 

Censure (blame) meant merely opinion; 
from the Lat. censeo, I think. Shake- 
speare, in Hamlet i. 3. 69, makes Polon- 
ius say: "Take each man's censure, but 
reserve thy judgment." 

Charity (almsgiving) meant love; from 
Lat. earns, dear, through the French. 

Cheat (to deceive for the purpose of gain) 
meant to seize upon a thing as escheated 
or forfeited. 

Cheer, face. " Be of good cheer " = " Put 
a good face upon it." " His cheer fell " 
= "His countenance fell." 

Churl (an uncourteous or disobliging per- 
son) meant a countryman. Der. chur- 
lish. (Shakespeare also uses the word 
in the sense of a miser.) 



WORDS THAT HAVE GREATLY CHANGED IN MEANING. 169 



Clumsy, stiff with cold. "When thou 
clomsest with cold," says Langland (14th 
century) = art benumbed. (Cognates, 
clamp, cramp.) 

Companion, low fellow. Shakespeare has 
such phrases as " Companions, hence !" 

Conceit (too high an opinion of one's self) 
meant simply thought. Chaucer was 
called ''a conceited clerk " = "a learned 
man full of thoughts." From Lat. con- 
ceptus, a number of facts brought to- 
gether into one general conception or 
idea. Shakespeare has the phrase " pass- 
ing all conceit " = beyond all thought. 

Count (to number) meant to think (2 
with 3, &c.) with ; from Lat. compiito, 
I compute or think with. Count is a 
doublet, through French, of compute. 

Cunning, able or skilled. Like the word 
craft, it has lost its innocent sense. 

Danger, jurisdiction, legal power over. 
The Duke of Venice says to the Mer- 
chant, "You stand withm his danger, 
do you not?" M. V. iv. 1. 180. 

Defy, to pronounce all bonds of faith 
dissolved. Lat. fides, faith. 

Delicious, too scrupulous or finical. A 
writer of the seventeenth century says 
that idleness makes even " the sober- 
est (most moderate) men delicious." 

Depart, part or divide. The older version 
of the Prayer-Book has "till death us 
depart " (now corrupted into do part). 

Disaster, an unfavourable star. A term 
from the old astrology. 

Disease, discomfort, trouble. Shakespeare 
has, " She will disease our bitter mirth ; " 
and Tyndale's version of Mark v. 35, is, 
" Thy daughter is dead : why diseasest 
thou the Master any further ? " 

Duke, leader. Hannibal was called in old 
English writers, "Duke of Carthage." 

Ebb, shallow. " Cross the stream where 
it is ebbest," is a Lancashire proverb. 
(The word is a cognate of even.) 

Essay, an attempt. The old title of such 
a book was not " Essay on " but " Essay 
at." From Lat. exagium, a weighing. 



An older form is Assay. Shakespeare ha* 
such phrases as " the assay of arms." 

Explode, to drive out by clapping of the 
hands. The opposite of applaud. Lat. 
plaudo, I clap my hands. 

Explosion, a hissing a thing off the stage. 

Firmament, that which makes firm or 
strong. Jeremy Taylor (seventeenth 
century) says, " Custom is the firma- 
ment of the law." 

Fond, foolish. The past participle of 
A. S. fonnan, to act foolishly. 

Frightful, full of fear. (Compare the old 
meaning of dreadful.) 

Garble, to sift or cleanse. Low Lat. 
garbellare, to sift «orn. 

Garland, a king's crown ; now a wreath of 
flowers. 

Gazette (Italian), a magpie. Hence the 
Ital. gazettare, to chatter like a magpie; 
to write tittle-tattle. (It was also the 
name of a very small coin, current in 
Venice, etc.) 

Generous, high-born. Lat. genus, race. 
Compare the phrases " a man of family ; " 
" a man of rank." Shakespeare has " the 
generous citizens" for those of high 
birth. 

Gossip, sib or related in God ; a godfather 
or godmother. It now means such per- 
sonal talk as usually goes on among such 
persons. (Compare the French commert 
and covimerage.) 

Handsome, clever with the hands. 

Harbinger, a person who prepared a har- 
bour or lodging. 

Heathen, a person who lives on a heath. 
(Cf. pagan, person who lives in a pagus, 
or country district.) 

Hobby, an easy ambling nag. 

Idiot (Gr. idibtes), a private person ; a 
person who kept aloof from public busi- 
ness. Cf. idiom ; idiosyncrasy ; etc. 

Imp, an engrafted shoot. Chaucer says : 
"Of feeble trees there comen wretched 

impes." 
Spenser has " Well worthy impe.** 



170 



GKAMMAE, OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Impertinent, not pertaining to the 

matter in hand. 



Indifferent, impartial, 
ent to all. " 



'■ God is indiffer- 



Insolent, unusual. An old writer praises 
Kaleigh's poetry as "insolent and pas- 
sionate." 

Kind, horn, inborn ; natural ; and then 
loving. 

Knave, hoy. "A knave child "=a male 
child. Sir John Mandeville speaks of 
Mahomet as "a poure knave." 

Lace, a snare. Lat. laqueus, a noose. 

Livery, that which is given or delivered, 
Fr. livrer; from Lat. liberare, to free. 
It was applied both to food and to 
clothing. "A horse at livery " stillmeans 
a horse not merely kept, but also fed. 

Magnificent, doing great things ; large- 
minded. Bacon says, " Bounty and 
magnificence are virtues very regal." 

Maker, a poet. 

Manure, to work with the hand ; a doublet 
of manoeuvre. (Lat. manus, the hand.) 

Mere, utter. Lat. merus, pure. Shakespeare, 
in "Othello," speaks of "the mere per- 
dition of the Turkish fleet." "Mere 
*** wine " was unmixed wine. 

Metal, a mine. 

Minute, something very small. Lat. min- 
utus, made small ; from minus, less. 
Cognates, minor; minish; diminish; etc. 

Miscreant, an unbeliever. Lat. mis (from 
minus), and credo, I believe ; through 
O. Fr. mescre'ant. 

Miser, a wretched person. Lat. miser, mis- 
erable. 

Nephew, a grandchild. (Lat. nepos.) 

Nice, too scrupulous or fastidious. Shake- 
speare, in " K. John," iii. 4. 138, says — 
" He that stands upon a slippery place, 
Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him 
up." 

Niece, a grandchild. Lat. neptit. 

Npvelist, an innovator. 



Offal, that which is allowed to fall off. 

Officious, obliging. In modern diplomacy, 
an official communication is one made 
in the way of business ; an officious com- 
munication is a friendly and irregular 
one. Burke, in the eighteenth century, 
speaks of the French nobility as "very 
officious and hospitable." 

Ostler = hosteller. The keeper of a hostel 
or hotel. (A comic derivation is that it 
is a contraction of oatstealer). 

Painful, painstaking. Fuller, in the seven- 
teenth century, speaks of Joseph as "a ( 
painful carpenter." 

Palliate, to throw a cloak over. Lat. pal- 
lium, a cloak. 

Pencil, a small hair brush. Lat. penecillus, 
a little tail. 

Peevish, obstinate. 

Perspective, a glass for seeing either near 
or distant things. 

Pester, to encumber or clog. From Low 
Lat. pastorium, a clog for horses in a 
pasture. 

Plantation, a colony of men planted. 

Plausible, having obtained applause. 
"Every one received him plausibly," 
says a seventeenth-century writer. 

Polite, polished. A seventeenth-century 
writer has "polite bodies as looking- 
glasses." 

Pomp, a procession. 

Preposterous, putting the last first. Lat. 
pros, before ; and post, after. 

Prevaricate, to reverse, to shuffle. Lat. 
prcevaricari, to spread the legs apart 
in walking. 

Prevent, to go before. Lat. pr&, before, 
and venio, I come. The Prayer-Book has, 
"Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings." 

Prodigious, ominous. "A prodigious 
meteor," meant a meteor of bad omen. 

Punctual, attending to small points of 
detail. Lat. punctum ; Fr. point. 



WORDS THAT HAVE GREATLY CHANGED IN MEANING. 171 



Quaint, skilful. Prospero, in the "Tem- 
pest," calls Ariel " My quaint Ariel ! " 

Racy, having the strong and native qual- 
ities of the race. Cowley says of a poet 
that he is — 

" Fraught with brisk racy verses, in 

which we 
The soil from whence they come, taste, 
smell, and see." 

Reduce, to lead back. 

Resent, to be fully sensible of. Resent- 
ment, grateful recognition of. 

Restive, obstinate, inclined to rest or 
stand still. "To turn rusty" (=resty) 
is to turn obstinate. 

Retaliate, to give back benefits as well as 
injuries. 

Room, space, place at table. Luke xiv. 8. 

Rummage, to make room. 

Sad, earnest. 

Sash, a turban. 

Secure, free from care. Ben Jonson says : 
" Men may securely sin ; but safely, 
never." 

Sheen, bright, pure. Connected with 
shine. 

Shrew, a wicked or hurtful person. 

Silly, blessed. 

Sincerity, absence of foreign admixture. 

Soft, sweetly reasonable. 

Spices, kinds — a doublet of species. (A 
grocer in French is called an epicier.) 

Starve, to die. Chaucer says, "Jesus 
starved upon the cross." 

Sycophant, "a fig-shower" or informer 
against a person who smuggled figs. Gr. 
sukon, a fig ; and phaino, I show. 

Table, a picture. 



Tarpaulin, a sailor ; from the tarred 
canvas suit he wore. Now shortened 
into tar. 

Thews, habits, manners. 

Thought, deep sorrow, anxiety. Matthew 
vi. 25. In "Julius Caesar," ii. 1. 187, we 
find, " Take thought, and die for Csesar. " 

Trivial, very common. Lat. trivia, a 
place where three roads meet. 

Tuition, guardianship. Lat. tuitio, look- 
ing at. 

Uncouth, unknown. 

Union, oneness ; or a pearl in which size, 
roundness, smoothness, purity, lustre, 
were united. See "Hamlet," v. 2.283. 
A doublet is onion— so called from its 
shape. 

Unkind, unnatural. 

Urbane, living in a city. Lat. uros, a 

city. 

Usury, money paid for the use of a thing. 

Varlet, a serving-man. Low Lat. vassa- 
lettus, a minor vassal. Varlet and valet 
are diminutives of 1 



Vermin was applied to noxious animals 
of whatever size. " The crocodile is 
a dangerotfs vermin." Lat. vermis, a 
worm. 

Villain, a farm-servant. Lat. villa, a farm. 

Vivacity, pertinacity in living ; longevity. 
Fuller speaks of a man as " most remark- 
able for his vivacity, for he lived 140 
years." 

Wit, knowledge, mental ability. 

Worm, a serpent. 

Worship, to consider worth, to honour. 

Wretched, wicked. A. S. wrecca, an out- 
cast 



PART II. 

COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, PAEAPHEASING, 
AND PROSODY. 



HINTS ON COMPOSITION. 

1. Composition is the art of putting sentences together. 

(i) Any one can make a sentence ; but every one cannot make a sen- 
tence that is both clear and neat. We all speak and write sentences 
every day ; but these sentences may be neat or they may be clumsy — 
they may be pleasant to read, or they may be dull and heavy. 

(ii) Sir Arthur Helps says : " A sentence should be powerful in its 
substantives, choice and discreet in its adjectives, nicely correct in its 
verbs ; not a word that could be added, nor one which the most fastid- 
ious would venture to suppress ; in order, lucid ; in sequence, logical ; 
in method, perspicuous." 

2. The manner in which we put our sentences together is 
called style. That style may be good or bad; feeble or vigorous; 
clear or obscure. The whole purpose of style, and of studying 
style, is to enable us to present our thoughts to others in a clear, 
forcible, and yet graceful way. 

"Style is but the order and the movement that we put into our 
thoughts. If we bind them together closely, compactly, the style be- 
comes firm, nervous, concise. If they are left to follow each other 
negligently, the style will be diffuse, slipshod, and insipid."— Buffon. 

3. Good composition is the result of three things : (i) clear 
thinking ; (ii) reading the best and most vigorous writers ; and 
(iii) frequent practice in writing, along with careful polishing of 
what we have written. 

(i) We ought to read diligently in the best poets, historians, and 
essayists, — to read over and over again what strikes us as finely or nobly 
or powerfully expressed, — to get by heart the most striking passages in 
a good author. This kind of study will give us a large stock of appro- 
priate words and striking phrases ; and we shall never be at a loss for 
the right words to express our own sense. 



176 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

Ben Jonson says : " For a man to write well, there are required 
three necessaries : let him read the best authors ; observe the best 
speakers ; and have much exercise of his own style." 

(ii) " My mother forced me, by steady daily toil, to learn long chapters 
of the Bible by heart ; as well as to read it every syllable through, aloud, 
hard names and all, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, about once a-year : 
and to that discipline, — patient, accurate, and resolute, — I owe, not only 
a knowledge of the book, but much of my general power of taking pains, 
and the best part of my taste in literature." — John Ruskin. 

(iii) But, though much reading of the best books and a great deal of 
practice in composition are the only means to attain a good and vigorous 
style, there are certain directions — both general and special — which may 
be of use to the young student, when he is beginning. 



GENEEAL DIEECTIOISTS. 

4. We must know the subject fully about which we are going 
to write. 

(i) If we are going to tell a story, we must know all the circumstances ; 
the train of events that led up to the result ; the relations of the persons 
in the story to each other ; whab they said ; and the outcome of the 
whole at the close. These considerations guide us to 

Practical Rule I. — Draw up on a piece of paper a short 
skeleton of what you are going to write about. 

(i) Archbishop Whately says : "The more briefly this is done, so that 
it does but exhibit clearly the heads of the composition, the better ; be- 
cause it is important that the whole of it be placed before the eye and 
mind in a small compass, and be taken in, as it were, at a glance ; and it 
should be written, therefore, not in sentences, but like a table of contents. 
Such an outline should not be allowed to fetter the writer, if, in the 
course of the actual composition, he find any reason for deviating from 
his original plan, — it should serve merely as a track to mark out a path 
for him, not as a groove to confine him." 

(ii) Cobbett says : " Sit down to write what you have thought, and 
not to think what you shall write." 

5. Our sentences must be written in good [English. 

Good English is simply the English of the best writers ; and we can 
only learn what it is by reading the books of these writers. Good writers 



' GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 177 

of the present century are such authors as Charles Lamb, Jane Austen, 
Scott, Coleridge, Landor, Macaulay, Thackeray, Dickens, Matthew 
Arnold, Froude, Ruskin, and George Eliot. 

6. Our sentences must be written in pure English. 

(i) This rule forbids the use of obsolete or old-fashioned words, such 
as erst, peradventure, hight, beholden, vouchsafe, methinks, etc. 

(ii) It forbids also the use of slang expressions, such as awfully, jolly, 
rot, bosh, smell a rat, see with half an eye, etc. 

(hi) It forbids the employment of technical terms, unless these are 
absolutely necessary to express our meaning ; and this is sure to be the 
case in a paper treating on a scientific subject. But technical terms in 
an ordinary piece of writing, such as quantitative, connotation, anent, 
chromatic, are quite out of place. 

(iv) In obedience to this rule, we ought also carefully to avoid the use 
of foreign words and phrases. Affectation of all kinds is disgusting ; 
and it both looks and is affected to use such words as confrere, raison 
d'etre, amour propre, conge, etc. 

(v) This recommendation also includes the Practical Rule : " When 

an English-English (or 'Saxon') and a Latin -English word offer them- 
selves, we had better choose the Saxon." 

(vi) The following is from an article by Leigh Hunt : " In the Bible 
there are no Latinisms ; and where is the life of our language to be 
found in such perfection as in the translation of the Bible ? We will 
venture to affirm that no one is master of the English language who is not 
well read in the Bible, and sensible of its peculiar excellences. It is the 
pure well of English. The taste which the Bible forms is not a taste 
for big words, but a taste for the simplest expression or the clearest 
medium of presenting ideas. Remarkable it is that most of the sublimities 
in the Bible are conveyed in monosyllables. For example, ' Let there be 
light : and there was light. ' Do these words want any life that Latin 
could lend them ? . . . The best styles are the freest from Latinisms ; 
and it may be almost laid down as a rule that a good writer will never 
have- recourse to a Latinism if a Saxon word will equally serve his purpose. 
We cannot dispense with words of Latin derivation; but there should 
be the plea of necessity for resorting to them, or we wrong our English." 

(vii) At the same time, it must not be forgotten that we very often 
are compelled by necessity to use Latin words. Even Leigh Hunt, in 
the above passage, has been obliged to do so while declaiming against it. 
This is apparent from the number of words printed in italics, all of 
which are derived from Latin. This is most apparent in the phrase 
equally serve his purpose, which we could not now translate into " pure " 
English. 



178 



COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 



7. Our sentences must be written in accurate English 
That is, the words used must be appropriate to the sense we 
wish to convey. Accuracy is the virtue of using "the right 
word in the right place." 

(i) " The attempt was found to be impracticable." Now, impracticable. 
means impossible of accomplishment. Any one may attempt anything ; 
carrying it out is a different thing. The word used should have been 
design or plan. 

(ii) " The veracity of the statement was called in question." Veracity 
is the attribute of a person ; not of a statement. 

(iii) Accurate English can only be attained by the careful study of the 
different shades of meaning in words ; by the constant comparison of 
synonyms. Hence we may lay down the 

Practical Rule II. — Make a collection of synonyms, and 

compare the meanings of each couple (i) in a dictionary, and 
(ii) in a sentence. 

The following are a few, the distinctions between which are 
yery apparent : — 



Abstain 


Forbear. 


Custom 


Habit. 


Active 


Diligent. 


Delay 


Defer. 


Aware 


Conscious. 


Difficulty 


Obstacle. 


Character 


Reputation. 


Strong 


Powerful. 


Circumstance 


Event. 


Think 


Believe. 



8. Our sentences should be perfectly clear. That is, the 
reader, if he is a person of ordinary common-sense, should not 
be left for a moment in doubt as to our meaning. 

(i) A Roman writer on style says : " Care should be taken, not that 
the reader may understand if he will, but that he shall understand 
whether he will or not." 

(ii) Our sentences should be as clear as " mountain water flowing ovei 
a rock." They should " economise the reader's attention." 

(iii) Clearness is gained by being simple, and by being brief. 

(iv) Simplicity teaches us to avoid (a) too learned words, and (6) 
roundabout ways of mentioning persons and things. 

(a) We ought, for example, to prefer — 
Abuse to Vituperation. Neighbourhood to Vicinity. 

Begin n Commence. Trustworthy M Reliable. 

Commence n Initiate. Welcome ; . Reception. 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 179 

(b) "We ought to avoid such stale and hackneyed phrases as the 
"Swan of Avon" for Shakespeare; the "Bard of Florence" for 
Dante ; " the Great Lexicographer " for Dr Johnson. 

(v) Brevity enjoins upon us the need of expressing our meaning in as 
few words as possible. 

Opposed to brevity is verbosity, or wordiness. Pope says — 

" Words are like leaves ; and, where they most abound, 
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found." 

(vi) Dr Johnson says : " Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults." 

9. Our sentences should be written in flowing English. 
That is, the rhythm of each sentence ought to be pleasant to 
the ear, if read aloud. This axiom gives rise to two rules : — 

Practical Rule III — Write as you would speak ! 

(i) This, of course, points to an antecedent condition — that you must 
be a good reader. Good reading aloud is one of the chief conditions of 
good writing. " Living speech," says a philosophic writer, " is the cor- 
rective of all style." 

Practical Rule IV. — After we have written our piece of com- 
position, we should read it aloud either to ourselves or to some 
one else. 

Thus, and thus only, shall we be able to know whether each sentence 

has an agreeable rhythm. 

Practical Rule V. — " Never write about any matter you do 
not well understand. If you clearly understand all about your 
matter, you will never want thoughts ; and thoughts instantly 
become words." — Cobbett. 

" Seek not for words ; seek only fact and thought, 
And crowding in will come the words, unsought." — Horace. 

" Know well your subject ; and the words will go 
To the pen's point, with steady, ceaseless flow." — Pentland. 

10. Our sentences should be compact. 

(i) That is, they ought not to be loose collections of words, but firm, 
well-knit, nervous organisms. 

(ii) A sentence in which the complete sense is suspended till the cioee 
is called a period. Contrasted with it is the loose sentence, 



180 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION ETC. 

(a) Loose Sentence. — The Puritans looked down with contempt on 
the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests. 

(6) Period. — On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests 
the Puritans looked down with contempt. 

(hi) The following is a fine example of a loose sentence : " Notwith- 
standing his having gone, in winter, to Moscow, where he found the cold 
excessive, and which confined him, without intermission, six weeks to 
his room, we could not induce him to come home." This no more 
makes a sentence than a few cartloads of bricks thrown loosely upon the 
ground constitute a house. 



EMPHASIS. 

One object in style is to call the attention of the reader in a 
forcible and yet agreeable way to the most important parts of 
our subject — in other words, to give emphasis to what is 
emphatic, and to make what is striking and important strike the 
eye and mind of the reader. This purpose may be attained in 
many different ways ; but there are several easy devices that 
will be found of use to us in our endeavour to give weight and 
emphasis to what we write. These are : — 

1. The ordinary grammatical order of the words in a sentence 
may be varied ; and emphatic words may be thrown to the 
beginning or to the end of the sentence. This is the device 
of Inversion. 

Thus we have, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord." " Jesus I know, and Paul I know : but who are ye ? " " Some 
he imprisoned ; others he put to death." " Go he must ! " " Do it he 
shall ! " " They could take their rest, for they knew Lord Strafford 
watched. Him they feared, him they trusted, him they obeyed." " He 
that tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes ; for, to 
maintain one, he must invent • twenty more." In the last sentence, the 
phrase to maintain one gains emphasis by being thrown out of its 
usual and natural position. But 

Caution 1. — Do not go out of your way to invert. It has a 
look of affectation. Do not say, for example, " True it is," or 
"Of Milton it was always said," etc. And do not begin an 
essay thus : " Of all the vices that disfigure and degrade," etc. 



EMPHASIS. 18 j 

2. The Omission of Conjunctions gives force and emphasis. 

Thus Hume writes : "He rushed amidst them with his sword 
drawn, threw them into confusion, pushed his advantage, and gained a 
complete victory." We may write : "You say this ; I deny it." 

3. The use of the Imperative Mood gives liveliness and 
emphasis. 

Thus we find the sentence : " Strip virtue of the awful authority 
she derives from the general reverence of mankind, and you rob her of 
half her majesty." Here strip is equal to If you strip; but is much 
more forcible. 

4. Emphasis is also gained by employing the Interrogative 
Form. 

• (i) Thus, to say " Who does not hope to live long ? " is much more 
forcible and lively than "All of us hope to live long." 

(ii) This is a well-known form in all impassioned speech. Thus, in 
the Bible we find : " Your fathers, where are they ? And the prophets, 
do they live for ever ? " 

5. The device of Exclamation may also be employed to give 
emphasis ; but it cannot be frequently used, without danger of 
falling into affectation 

Thus Shakespeare, instead of making Hamlet say, " Man is a wonder- 
ful piece of work," etc. — which would be dull and flat — writes, "What 
a piece of work is man ! " etc. 

6. Emphasis may be gained by the use of the device of 
Periphrasis. 

(i) Thus, instead of saying "John built this house," or "This house 
was built by John," we can say : " It was John who built this house ;'■ 
" It was no other than John who," etc. 

7. Repetition is sometimes a powerful device for producing 
emphasis ; but, if too frequently employed, it becomes a tire- 
some mannerism. 

(i) Macaulay is very fond of this device. He says : " Tacitus tells a 
fine story finely, but he cannot tell a plain story plainly. He stimulates 
till stimulants lose their power." Again: "He aspired to the highest 
— above the people, above the authorities, above the laws, above bis 
country." 



182 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

(ii) Its effect in poetry is sometimes very fine : — 

" By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed ; 
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed ; 
By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned ; 
By strangers honoured, and by strangers mourned." 

8. The device of Suspense adds to the weight and emphasis 
of a statement ; it keeps the attention of the reader on the 
stretch, because he feels the sense to be incomplete. 

(i) The suspense in the following sentence gives a heightened idea of 
the difficulty of travelling : "At last, with no small difficulty, and 
after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads, storms of wind and 
rain, and bad weather of all kinds, to our journey's end." 

(ii) This device is frequent in poetry. Thus Keats opens his " Hy- 
perion " in this way : — 

" Deep in the shady sadness of a vale, 
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, 
Far from the fiery noon and eve's one star — 
Sat grey-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone." 

Here the verb is kept to the last line. 

9. Antithesis always commands attention, and is therefore a 
powerful mode of emphasising a statement. But antithesis is 
not always at one's command ; and it must not be strained after. 

Macaulay employs this device with great effect. He has : " The 
Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but 
because it gave pleasure to the spectators." Swift was very fond of it. 
Thus he says : " The two maxims of a great man at court are, always to 
keep his countenance, and never to keep his word." Dr Johnson has 
this sentence : " He was a learned man among lords, and a lord among 
learned men." " He twice forsook his party ; his principles never." 

10. A very sharp, sudden, and unexpected antithesis is called 
an Epigram. 

(i) Thus Lord Bacon, speaking of a certain procession in Rome, says that 
"The statues of Brutus and Cassius were conspicuous by their absence." 
Macaulay says of the dirt and splendour of the Russian Ambassadors : 
"They came to the English Court dropping pearls and vermin." 

(ii) The following are additional instances of truths put in a very 
striking and epigrammatic way : " Verbosity is cured by a large vocab- 
ulary" (because when you have a large stock of words, you will be 
able to choose the fittest). " We ought to know something of every- 
thing, and everything of something." " He was born of poor but dis- 
honest parents." "When you have nothing to say, say it." "He 



DISTINCTNESS OF STYLE. 183 

had nothing to do, and he did it." "The better is the enemy of the 
good." " One secret in education," says Herbert Spencer, "is to know 
how wisely to lose time. " " Make haste slowly. " " They did nothing 
in particular ; and did it very well." 

(iii) But no one should strain after such a style of writing. Such an 
attempt would only produce smartness, which is a fatal vice. 



DISTINCTNESS OF STYLE. 

1. One great secret of a good and striking style is the art of 
Specification. 

Professor Bain gives us an excellent example of a vague and gen- 
eral, as opposed to a distinct and specific style : — 

(a) Vague. — " In proportion as the manners, customs, and amuse- 
ments of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulation of their 
penal codes will be severe. " 

(6) Specific. — "According as men delight in battles, bull-fights, and 
combats of gladiators, so will they punish by hanging, burning, 
and crucifying." 

2. Specification or distinctness of style may be attained in 
two ways : (i) by the use of concrete terms ; and (ii) by the 
use of detail. 

3. A concrete or particular term strikes botb the feelings 
and imagination with greater force than an abstract or general 
term can do. 

(i) Let us make a few contrasts : — 

Abstract. Concrete. 

Quadruped. Horse. 

Building materials. Bricks and mortar. 

Old age. Grey hairs. 

Warlike weapons. Sword and gun. 

Kich and poor. The palace and the cottage. 

A miserable state. Age, ache, and penury. 

" I have neither the necessaries " I have not a crust of bread, 

of life, nor the means of pro- nor a penny to buy one." 

curing them." 

(ii) Campbell says : " The more general the terms are, the picture is 
the fainter; the more special, the brighter." "They sank like lead in 
the mighty waters " is more forcible than " they sank like metal." 



184 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

4. Details enable the reader to form in his mind a vivid pic- 
ture of the event narrated or the person described • and, before 
beginning to write, we ought always to draw up a list of such 
details as are both striking and appropriate — such details as 
tend to throw into stronger relief the chief person or event. 

The following is a good example from the eloquent writer and 
profound thinker Edmund Burke. He is speaking of the philanthro- 
pist Howard : — 

" He has visited all Europe to dive into the depths of dungeons ; to plunge 
into the infections of hospitals ; to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain j 
to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to 
remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and 
to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries." 



GEKEKAL CAUTIONS. 

1. Avoid the use of threadbare and hackneyed expressions. 
Leave them to people who are in a hurry, or to penny-a-liners. 

Instead of Writs 

At the expiration of four years. At the end, etc. 

Paternal sentiments. .The feelings of a father. 

Exceedingly opulent. Very rich. 

Incur the danger. Eun the risk. 

Accepted signification. Usual meaning. 

Extreme felicity. Great happiness. 

A sanguinary engagement. A bloody battle. 

In the affirmative. Yes. 

2. Ee very careful in the management of pronouns. 

(i) Cobbett says : " Never put an it upon paper without thinking 
well what you are about. When I see many it's in a page, I always 
tremble for the writer." See also 2 Kings, xix. 35 : "And when they 
arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses." 

(ii) Bolingbroke has the sentence: "They were persons of very moder- 
ate intellects, even before they were impaired by their passions." The 
last they ought to be these. 

(hi) The sentence, " He said to his patient that if he did not feel 
better in half an hour, he thought he had better return," is a clumsy 
sentence, but clear enough ; because we can easily see that it is the 
patient that is to take the advice. 



SPECIAL CAUTIONS. 185 

3. Be careful not to use mixed metaphors. 

(i) The following is a fearful example : " This is the arrow of convic- 
tion, which, like a nail driven in a sure place, strikes its roots downwards 
into the earth, and bears fruit upwards." 

(ii) Sir Boyle Roche, an Irish member, began a speech thus : " Mr 
Speaker, I smell a rat, I see him floating in the air ; but, mark me, 
I shall yet nip him in the bud." A similar statement is : "Lord Kim- 
berley said that in taking a very large bibe of the Turkish cherry the 
way had been paved for its partition at no distant day." 

4. Be simple, quiet, manly, frank, and straightforward in 
your style, as in your conduct. That is : Be yourself 1 



SPECIAL CAUTIONS. 

1. Avoid tautology. 

Alison says : "It was founded mainly on the entire monopoly of 
the whole trade with the colonies." Here entire and whole are tauto- 
logical ; for monopoly means entire possession, or possession of the xohole. 
"He appears to enjoy the universal esteem of all men." Here universal 
is superfluous. 

. 2. Place the adverb as near the word it modifies as you 
can. 

" He not only found her employed, but also pleased and tranquil." 
The not only belongs to employed, and should therefore go with it. 

3. Avoid circumlocution. 

"Her Majesty, on reaching Perth, partook of breakfast." This 
should be simply breakfasted. But the whole sentence should be recast 
into : " On reaching Perth, the Queen breakfasted in the station." 

4. Take care that your participles are attached to nouns, and 
that they do not run loose. 

"Alarmed at the news, the boat was launched at once." Here 
alarmed can, grammatically, agree with boat only. The sentence 
should be : " The men, alarmed at the news, launched their boat at 
once. " 

5. Use a present participle as seldom as possible. 

(i) " I have documents proving this " is not so strong as " to prova 
this." 



186 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

(ii) " He dwelt a long time on the advantages of swift steamers, thus 
accounting for the increase," etc. The phrase " thus accounting r ' is very 
loose. Every sentence ought to be neat, firm, and compact. 

6. Eemember that who = and he or for he ; while that 

introduces a merely adjectival clause. 

" I heard it from the doctor, who told the gardener that-works-for- 
the-college." Here who = and he; and that introduces the adjectival 
sentence. 

7. Do not change the Subject of your Sentence. 

(i) Another way of putting this is : " Preserve the unity of the 
sentence ! " 

(ii) "Archbishop Tillotson died in this year. He was exceedingly 
beloved both by King William and Queen Mary, who nominated Dr 
Tenison to succeed him." The last statement about nominating another 
bishop has no natural connection with what goes before. 

(iii) " After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was 
welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kind- 
ness." This sentence ought to be broken into two. The first should 
end with on shore; and the second begin " Here I was met and, etc." 

8. See that who or which refers to its proper antecedent. 

"Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a yeoman,, 
to whom he left his second-best bed." Here the grammatical antece- 
dent is yeoman; but the historical and sense-antecedent is certainly 
daughter. 

9. Do not use and which for which. 

(i) " I bought him a very nice book as a present, and which cost me 
ten shillings." The and is here worse than useless. 

(ii) If another which has preceded, of course and which is right. 

10. Avoid exaggerated or too strong language. 

Unprecedented, most extraordinary, incalculable, boundless, extremely, 
awfully, scandalous, stupendous, should not be used unless we know that 
they are both true and appropriate. 

11. Be careful not to mix up dependent with principal 
sentences. 

" He replied that he wished to help them, and intended to give 
orders to his servants." Here it is doubtful whether intended is co- 
ordinate with replied or with wished. If the former is the case, tfr^n 
we ought to say he intended. 



PUNCTUATION. 187 

.12. Be very careful about the right position of each phrase 
or clause in your sentence. 

The following are curious examples of dislocations or misplace- 
ments : " A piano for sale by a lady about to cross the Channel in an 
oak case with carved legs." "I believe that, when he died, Cardinal 
Mezzofanti spoke at least fifty languages." " He blew out his brains 
after bidding his wife good-bye with a gun." " Erected to the memory 
of John Phillips, accidentally shot, as a mark of affection by his 
brother." " The Board has resolved to erect a building large enough 
to accommodate 500 students three storeys high." "Mr Carlyle has 
taught us that silence is golden in thirty -seven volumes." 



PUNCTUATION. 

2. Certain signs, called points, are used in sentences to mark 
off their different parts, and to show the relation of each part to 
the organic whole. 

(i) Putting in the right points is called punctuation, from the Latin 
punctum, a point. From the same word come punctual and punctuality. 

2. These points are the full stop, the colon, the semicolon, 
the dash, and the comma. 

3. The full stop (.) or period marks the close of a sentence. 

4. The colon ( : ) introduces (i) a new statement that may 
be regarded as an after-thought; or (ii) it introduces a cata- 
logue of things ; or (iii) it introduces a formal speech. 

(The word colon is Greek, and means limb or member.) 

(i) " Study to acquire a habit of accurate expression : no study is 
more important." 

(ii) " Then follow excellent parables about fame : as that she gathereth 
strength in going ; that she goeth upon the ground, and yet hideth her 
head in the clouds ; that in the day-time she sitteth in a watch-tower, 
and flieth most by night." — Bacon. 

(iii) " Mr Wilson rose and said : 'Sir, I am sorry,' etc." 

5. The semicolon is employed when, for reasons of sound or 
of sense, two or more simple sentences are thrown into one. 

(Semicolon is Greek, and means half a colon.) 

(i) " In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in the middle age of 



188 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

a state, learning ; and then both of them together for a time ; in the 
declining age of a state, mechanical arts and merchandise.'' — Bacon. 

(ii) Learn from the birds what foods the thickets yield ; 
Learn from the beasts the physic of the field ; 
Thy arts of building from the bee receive ; 
Learn of the mole to plough, the worm to weave." — Pope. 

6. The dash is used (i) to introduce an amplification or ex- 
planation ; and (ii) two dashes are often employed in place of 
the old parenthesis. 

(i) " During the march a storm of rain, thunder, and lightning cam* 
on — a storm such as is only seen in tropical countries." 

(ii) " Ribbons, buckles, buttons, pieces of gold-lace — any trifles he had 
worn — were stored as priceless treasures." 

7. The comma is used to indicate a strong pause, either of 
sense or of sound. 

(i) It is true that the comma is the weakest of all our stops ; but 
there are many pauses which we ought to make in reading a sentence 
aloud that are not nearly strong enough to warrant a comma. 

(ii) It is better to understop rather than to overstop. For example, 
the last part of the last sentence in the paragraph above might have 
been printed thus : " there are many pauses, which we ought to make, 
in reading a sentence aloud, that are not nearly strong enough to, war- 
rant a comma." This is the old-fashioned style ; but such sprinkling of 
commas is not at all necessary. 

(iii) Two things are all that are required to teach us the use of a 
comma : (a) observation of the custom of good writers ; and (6) careful 
consideration of the sense and build of our own sentences. 

(iv) The following are a few special uses of the comma : — 

(a) It may be used in place of and : — 

" We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 

(b) After an address : "John, come here." 

(c) After certain introductory adverbs, as however, at length, at 
last, etc. " He came, however, in time to catch the train." 

8. The point of interrogation (?) is placed at the end of a 
question. 

9. The point of admiration (!) is employed to mark a state- 
ment which calls for surprise or wonder ; but it is now seldom 
used. 



FIGUKES OF SPEECH. 189 



FIGURES OP SPEECH. 

1. The mind naturally tends, especially when in a state of 
excitement, to the use of what is called figurative language. 
It is as if we called upon all the things we see or have seen to 
come forward and help us to express our overmastering emotions. 
In fact, the external shows of nature are required to express the 
internal movements of the mind ; the external world provides a 
language for the internal or mental world. Hence we find all 
language full of figures of speech. Though we do not notice 
them at the time, we can hardly open our mouths without using 
them. As Butler says in his famous poem : — 

t " For Hudibras, — he could not ope 

His mouth, but out there flew a trope." 1 

We speak of a town being stormed; of a clear head; a hard 
heart; ivinged words ; glowing eloquence ; virgin snow, a torrent 
of words; the thirsty ground; the angry sea. We speak of 
God's Word being a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. 

2. This kind of language has been examined, classified, and 
arranged under heads ; and the chief figures of speech are called 
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Allegory, Synecdoche, 
Metonymy, and Hyperbole. 

3. A Simile is a comparison that is limited to one point. 
"Jones fought like a lion." Here the single point of likenesa 
between Jones and the lion is the bravery of the fighting of 
each. 

{Simile comefe from the Latin similis, like.) 

(i) " His spear was like the mast of a ship." " His salte teres striken 
down like rain," says Chaucer. "Apollo came like the night," says 
Homer. "His words fell soft, like snow upon the ground," are the 
words used by Homer in speaking of Ulysses. " It stirs the heart 
like the sound of a trumpet " said Sir Philip Sidney in speaking of 
the ballad of "Chevy Chase." Tennyson admirably compares a miller 
covered with flour to " a working-bee in blossom-dust." 



1 A trope — from Greek tr$pos, a turning. A word that has been turned 
from its ordinary and primary use. From the same root come tropic* 
and tropical. 



190 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

4. A Metaphor is a simile with the words like or as left out. 
Instead of saying "Koderick Dhu fought like a lion," we use a 
metaphor, and say " He was a lion in the fight." 

(Metaphor is a Greek word meaning transference.) 

(i) All language, as we have seen, is full of metaphors. Hence lan- 
guage has been called "fossil poetry." Thus, even in very ordinary 
prose, we may say, "the wish is father to the thought ; " "the news 
was a dagger to his heart;" or we speak of the fire of passion; of a 
ray of hope ; a flash of wit ; a thought striking us ; and so on. 

(ii) By frequent use, and by forgetfulness, many metaphors have lost 
their figurative character. Thus we use the words provide (to see 
beforehand), edify (to build up), express (to squeeze out), detect (to 
unroof), ruminate (to chew the cud), without the smallest feeling of 
their metaphorical character. 

(hi) We must never mix our metaphors. It will not do to say : " In 
a moment the thunderbolt was on them, deluging the country with 
invaders." " I will now embark upon the feature on which this question 
mainly hinges." 

(iv) Metaphors and similes may be mixed. Thus Longfellow : — 

■ii/r . j. -l f The day is done ; and the darkness 

P '"\ Falls from the wings of night, 

~. ., j As a feather is wafted downward 

toimUe ' \ From an «agle in his flight. 

(v) A metaphor is a figure in which the objects compared are treated 
by the mind as identical for the time being. A simile simply treats 
them as resembling one another ; and the mind keeps the two carefully 
apart. 

5. Personification is that figure by which, under the influence 
of strong feeling, we attribute life and mind to impersonal and 
inanimate things. 

(i) Thus we speak, in poetic and impassioned language, of pale Fear ; 
gaunt Famine ; green-eyed Jealousy ; and white-handed Hope. The morn- 
ing is said to laugh; the winds to whisper; the oaks to sigh; and the 
brooks to prattle. 

(ii) Milton, in the ' Paradise Lost,' ix. 780, thus describes the fall oi 
Eve:— 

" So saying, her rash hand in evil hour 
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate ! 
Earth felt the wound; and Nature, from her seat, 
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe 
That all was lost." 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 191 

Shelley's ' Cloud ' is one long personification. 

(iii) When the personified object is directly addressed, the figure is 
called Apostrophe. Thus we have, " Death, where is thy sting * 
Grave, where is thy victory ? " 

6. An Allegory is a continuous personification in the form of 
a story. 

(i) The genus is personification ; the differentia, a story ; and the 
species is an allegory. 

(ii) Milton's " Death and Sin," in the tenth book of the ' Paradise 
Lost,' is a short allegory. Spenser's 'Faerie Queene' and Bunyan's 
' Pilgrim's Progress ' are long allegories. 

(iii) A short allegory is called a Fable. ' 

7. Synecdoche* is that figure of speech by which a part is 
put for the whole. Thus we say, in a more striking fashion, 
bread instead of food ; & cut-throat for a murderer; fifty sail for 
fifty ships; all hands at work. 

(i) Lear, in the height of his mad rage against his daughters, shouts, 
I abjure all roofs ! " 

(ii) The name of the material — as a part of the whole production — is 
sometimes used for the thing made : as cold steel for the sword ; the 
marble speaks ; the canvas glows. 

8. Metonymy is that figure of speech by which a thing is 
named, not with its own name, but by some accompaniment. 
Thus we say, the crown for the Jang; the sword for physical 
force. 

(The word metonymy is a Greek word meaning change of names. ) 

"We write the ermine for the bench of judges; the mitre for the 
bishops; red tape for official routine; a long purse for a great deal oj 
money ; the bottle for habits of drunkenness. 

9. Hyperbole* or Exaggeration is a figure by which much 
more is said than is literally true. This is of course the re- 
sult of very strong emotion. 

(i) Milton says : — 

" So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell 
Grew darker at their frown." 

(ii) Scott, in ' Kenilworth,' has this passage : " The mind of England's 
Elizabeth was like one of those ancient Druidical monuments called 



192 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

rocking-stones. The finger of Cupid, boy as he is painted, could pat 
her feelings in motion ; but the power of Hercules could not have de- 
stroyed their equilibrium." 

10. The following is a summary of the chief of the above 
statements : — ■ 

1. A Figure of Speech employs a vivid or striking image 

of something without to express a feeling or idea 
within. 

2. A Simile uses an external image with the word like. 

3. A Metaphor uses the same image without the word like. 
i. A Personification is a metaphor taken from a person or 

living being. 
5. An allegory is a continuous personification. 



PARAPHRASING. 

1. Paraphrasing is a kind of exercise that is not without 
its uses. These uses are chiefly two : (i) to bind the learner's 
attention closely to every word and phrase, meaning and shade 
of meaning ; and (ii) to enable the teacher to see whether 
the learner has accurately and fully understood the passage. 
But no one can hope to improve .on the style of a poem by 
turning the words and phrases of the poet into other language ; 
the change made is always — or almost always — a change for the 
worse. 

2. Passages from good prose writers are sometimes given out 
to paraphrase, but most often passages from poetical writers. 
The reason of this is that poetry is in general much more highly 
compressed than prose, and hence the meaning is sometimes 
obscure, for want of a little more expansion. The following 
lines by Sir Henry Wotton, the Provost of Eton College, are 
a good example of much thought compressed within a little 
space : — 



PARAPHRASING. 193 



THE HAPPY LIFE. 



1. How happy 13 he born and taught) 
That serveth not another's will — 
Whose armour is his honest thought, 
And .simple truth his utmost skill ! 

2. Whose passions not his masters are, 
Whose soul is still prepared for death — 
Not tied unto the worldly care 

Of public fame or private breath ! 

3. Who envies none that chance doth raise, 
Or vice ; who never understood 

How deepest wounds are given by praise ; 
Nor rules of state, but rules of good ; 

4. Who hath his life from humours freed, 
Whose conscience is his strong retreat ; 
Whose state can neither flatterers feed, 
Nor ruin make accusers great ; 

5. Who God doth late and early pray 
More of His grace than gifts to lend ; 
And entertains the harmless day 
With a well-chosen book or friend : — 

6. This man is freed from servile bands 
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall — 
Lord of himself, though not of lands ; 
And, having nothing, yet hath all. 

3. Let us try now to paraphrase these lines — that is, to de- 
yelop the thought by the aid of more words. But, though we 
are obliged to use more words, we must do our utmost to find and 
to employ the most fitting. We must not merely throw down 
a mass of words and phrases, and leave the reader to make his 
own selection and to grope among them for the meaning. 

1. How happy, by birth as well as by education, is the man who is not 
obliged to be a slave to the will of another — whose only armour is his 
honesty and simple goodness, whose best and utmost skill lies in plain 
straightforwardness. 

2. How happy is the man who is not the slave of his own passions, 
whose -soul is always prepared for death, who is not tied to the world 
or the world's opinion by anxiety about his public reputation or the 
tattle of individuals. 



194 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

3. Happy, too, because he envies no man who has been raised to rank 
by accident or by vieious means ; because he never understood the snee* 
that stabs white it seems to praise ; because he cares nothing for rules 
of expediency or of policy, but thinks only of what is good and right. 

4. Who has freed himself from obedience to humours and to whims, 
whose conscience is his sure stronghold ; whose rank is not exalted 
enough to draw flatterers, or to tempt accusers to build their own 
greatness upon his fall. 

5. "Who, night and morning, asks God for grace, and not for gifts •, 
and fills his day with the study of a good book or conversation with 
a thoughtful friend. 

6. This man is freed from the slavery of hope and fear — the hope of 
rising, the fear of falling — lord, not of lands, but of himself ; and though 
without wealth or possessions, yet having all that the heart of man need 
desire. 



THE GRAMMAR OP VERSE, OR PROSODY. 

1. Verse is the form of poetry ; and Prosody is the part of 
Grammar which deals with the laws and nature of verse. 

(i) Verse comes from the Latin versa, turned. Oratio versa was 
" turned speech " — that is, when the line came to an end, the reader or 
writer or printer had to begin a new line. It is opposed to oratio 
prorsa, which means "straight-on speech" — whence our word prose. A 
line in prose may be of any length ; a line in verse must be of the length 
which the poet gives to it. 

(ii) It is of importance for us to become acquainted with the laws of 
verse. First, because it enables us to enjoy poetry more. Secondly, it 
enables us to read poetry better — and to avoid putting an emphasis on 
a syllable, merely because it is accented. Thirdly, it shows us how to 
write verse ; and the writing of verse is very good practice in composition 
— as it compels us to choose the right phrase, and^ makes us draw upon 
our store of words to substitute and to improve here or there. 

2. Verse differs from prose in two things : (i) in the regular 
recurrence of accents ; and (ii) in the proportion of un- 
accented to accented syllables. 

(i) Thus, in the line 

In an'swer nought' could An'gus speak', 
the accent occurs regularly in every second syllable. 



THE GRAMMAR OF VERSE, OR PROSODY 195 

(ii) But, in the line 

Mer'rily, mer'rily, shall' we live now', 

the accent not only comes first, but there are two unaccented syllables 
for every one that is accented (except in the last foot). 

3. Every English word of more than one syllable has an 
accent on one of its syllables. 

(i) Begin', commend', attack' have the accent on the last syllable. 
(ii) JIap'py, la'dy, ivel'come have the accent on the first syllable. 

4. English verse is made up of lines ; each line of verse con- 
tains a fixed number of accents ; each accent has a fixed 
number of unaccented syllables attached to it. 

(i) Let us take these lines from ' Marmion ' (canto v.) : — 

Who loves' | not more' | the night' | of June' 
Than dull' | Decern' | ber's gloom' | of noon' ? 

Each line here contains four accents ; the accented syllable comes last ; 
* each accented syllable has one unaccented attached to it. 

(ii) Now let us compare these lines from T. Hood's " Bridge of Sighs " : 

Touch' her not | scorn'fully, 
Think' of her | mourn'fully. 

Each line here contains two accents ; the accented syllable comes first; 
and each accented syllable has two unaccented syllables attached to it. 

5. One accented syllable + one or two unaccented, taken 
together, is called a foot. A foot is the unit of metre. 

Let x stand for an unaccented, and a for an accented syllable. 

6. One accented preceded by one unaccented syllable is 
called an Iambus. Its formula is xa. — One accented syllable 
followed by one unaccented is called a Trochee. Its formula 
is ax. 

(i) The following are iambuses : Perhaps' ; condemn' ; compel' ; with- 
out' ; career'. 

(ii) The following are trochees : Gen' tie ; riv'er; la'dy ; ra'ven ; tum'ble, 

(iii) The following verse is made up of four iambuses — that is, it is 
iambic verse : — 

'Twere long', | and need' | less, here' | to tell' 
How to my hand these papers fell. 



196 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

(iv) The following verse is made up of four trochees — that is, it is 
trochaic : — 

In' his | cham'ber, I weak' and | dy'ing • 
Was the Norman baron lying. 

(v) lam' | bics march' | from short' | to long'. 

(vi) Tro'chee | trips' from | long' to | short' — | . 

7. One accented syllable preceded by two unaccented is 
called an Anapaest. Its formula is xxa. — One accented syl- 
lable followed by two unaccented is called a DactyL Its 
formula is axx. 

(i) The following are anapaests : Serenade' ; disappear' ; comprehend' ; 
intercede'. 

(ii) The following are dactyls : Hap'pily; mer'rily ; sim'ilar ; bil'lowy. 

(iii) The following lines are in anapaestic verse : — 

I am mon' | arch of all' | I survey', 
My right there is none to dispute. 

(iv) With a leap' | and a bound' | the swift an' | apaests throng 7 1 . 

(v) The following are in dactylic verse : — 

Can'non to | right' of them | 
Can'non to | left' of them |. 

(a) The word dactyl comes from the Greek daktiilos, a finger. 
For a finger has one long and two short joints. 

(b) The word anapcest comes from two Greek words : paio, I 
strike, and ana, back ; because it is the reverse of a dactyl. 

8. The Anapaest belongs to the same kind or system of verse 
as the Iambus ; because the accented syllable in each comes last. 
— The Dactyl belongs to the same kind or system, of verse as 
the Trochee ; because the accented syllable in each comes first. 

(i) Hence anapaests and iambuses may be mixed (as in "My right' | 
there is none' | to dispute' | "); and so may dactyls and trochees (as in 
" Hark' to the | sum'mons | "). 

(ii) But we very seldom see a trochee introduced into an iambic line ; 
or an iambus into a trochaic. 

9. An accented syllable with one unaccented syllable on each 
side of it is called an Amphibrach. Its formula is xax. 

The word amphibrach comes from two Greek words : amphi, on both 
•ides; and braehus, short. (Compare amphibious.) 



THE GRAMMAR OF VERSE, OR PROSODY 197 

(i) The following are amphibrachs : Despair'ing ; almighty; tremend'- 
ous; deceitful. 

(ii) The following is an amphibrachic line : — 

There came' to | the beach' a | poor ex'ile | of E'rin |. 

10. A verse made up of iambuses is called Iambic Verse ; 
of trochees, Trochaic ; of anapaests, Anapaestic ; and of dactyls, 
Dactylic. 

11. A verse of three feet is called Trimeter; of four feet, 
Tetrameter ; of five feet, Pentameter ; and of six feet, Hex- 
ameter. 

(i) We find the prefixes of these words in Triangle ; Tetrarch (a ruler 
over a fourth part) ; Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) ; and Hexagon 
(a figure with six corners or angles). 

12. By much the most usual kind of verse in English is 
Iambic Verse. 

(i) Iambic Tetrameter (4xa) is the metre of most of Scott's poems ; 
of Coventry Patmore's "Angel in the House"; of Gay's Fables, and 
many other poems of the eighteenth century. 

(ii) Iambic Pentameter (5xa) is the most common line in English 
verse. There are probably more than a thousand iambic pentameter 
lines for one that there exists of any other kind. Iambic Pentameter is 
the verse of Chaucer, of Shakespeare, of Milton, of Dryden, of Pope, and 
of almost all our greater English poets. 

13. Rhymed Iambic Pentameter is called Heroic Verse ; un- 
rhymed, it is called Blank Verse. 

(i) Any unrhymed verse may be called blank — such as the verse em- 
ployed by Longfellow in his " Hiawatha " — but the term is usually 
restricted to the unrhymed iambic pentameter. 

(ii) Blank verse is the noblest of all verse. It seems the easiest to 
write ; it is the most difficult. It is the verse of Shakespeare and Milton, 
and of most of our great dramatists. 

14. Iambic Trimeter consists of three iambuses; and its 
formula is 3xa. 

The king' | was on' | his throne'; | 
His sa' | traps thronged' | the hall'; | 
A thou' | sand bright' | lamps shone' ] 
On that' | high fes' I tival'. | 

There is very little of this kind of verse in English. 



198 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

15. Iambic Tetrameter consists of four iambuses; and its 
formula is 4xa. 

The fire,' [ with well' | dried logs' | supplied/ | 
Went roar' | ing up' | the chim' | ney wide'; | 
The huge' | hall-ta' | ble's oak' | en face' | 
Scrubbed till' | it shone,' | the day' | to grace.' | 

There is a good deal of this verse in English ; and most of it 
is by Scott. 

16. Iambic Tetrameter with Iambic Trimeter in alternate 
lines — the second and fourth rhyming — is called Ballad Metre. 
When used, as it often is, in hymns, it is called Service Metre. 

They set him high upon a cart; = 4xa 

The hangman rode below; = 3xa 
They drew his hands behind his back, = 4xa 

And bared his noble brow. =3xa 

This is the metre of Macaulay's 'Lays of Ancient Rome,' of 
Scott's 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' and many other poems. 
Scott mixes frequently, but at quite irregular intervals, the 
iambic trimeter with the iambic tetrameter ; and this he called 
the "light-horse gallop of verse." 

Front, flank, and rear, the squadrons sweep = 4xa 
To break the Scottish circle deep, = 4xa 

That fought' | around' | their king.' = 3 xa 

17. Iambic Pentameter consists of five iambuses; and its 
formula is 5xa. 

(i) The following is rhymed iambic pentameter : — 

True wit' | is na' | ture to' | ad van' | tage dressed,' | = 5xa 

What oft' | was thought,' | but ne'er' | so well' | expressed.' | = 5xa 

(ii) The following is unrhymed iambic pentameter : — 

You all' | do know' | this man' | tie ; I' | remem' | ber=5xa 
The first' | time ev' | er Cses' | ar put' | it on'.| = 5xa. 

The first extract is from Pope's "Essay on Criticism"; the 
second from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." 

18. Iambic Hexameter consists of six iambuses ; and its 
formula is 6xa. 



THE GRAMMAR OF VERSE, OR PROSODY. 1 93 

(i) The following is from Drayton's " Polyolbion " : — 

Upon the Midlands now the industrious muse doth fall, | =6xa 
That shire which we the heart of England well may call. | = 6xa 

The objection to this kind of verse is its intolerable monotony. 
It pretends to be hexameter ; but it is indeed simply two tri- 
meter verses printed in one long line. The monotony comes 
from the fact that the pause is always in the middle of the line. 
There is very little of this kind of verse in English. The line 
of 6xa is also called an Alexandrine, and is used to close the 
long stanza employed by Spenser. 

19. Trochaic Tetrameter consists of four trochees ; and its 
formula is 4 ax. 

(i) The following is rhymed trochaic tetrameter : — 

When the heathen trumpet's clang -| = 4ax 
Round beleaguered Chester rang, -|=4ax 
Veiled nun and friar gray- | = 4ax 
Marched from Bangor's fair abbaye - | = 4ax 

It will be noticed that each line has a syllable wanting to 
make up the four complete feet But the missing syllable is 
only an unaccented syllable ; and the line contains four ac- 
cents. (The above extract is from "The Monks of Bangor's 
March," by Scott.) 

(ii) The following is unrhymed trochaic tetrameter : — 

Then the | little | Hia | watha | =4 ax 
Learned of | ev'ry | bird the | language, | = 4ax 
Learned their | names and | all their | secrets, |=4ax 
How they | built their | nests in | summer, | = 4ax 
Where they | hid them | selves in f winter, | = 4ax 
Talked with | them when | e'er he | met them, | = 4ax 
Called them | "Hia | watha's | Chickens." | = 4ax 

It will be observed that, in the above lines from Longfellow's 
" Hiawatha," each trochee is complete ; and this is the case 
throughout the whole of this poem. " Hiawatha " is the only 
long poem in the language that is written in unrhymed trochees. 

20. Trochaic Octometer consists of eight trochees; and its 
formula is 8 ax. 

(i) The chief example of it that we have is Tennyson's poem of 
"Locksley Hall" : — 



200 COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 

Com'rades, | leave' me | here' a | lit'tle, | while' as | yet' 'tis | early | morn'-| = 8ax 
Leave' me | here', and, | when' you | want' me, | sound' up | on' the | bu'gle | horn'-| = 8ax 

(ii) There is a syllable wanting in each line of " Locksley Hall " ; but 
it is only an unaccented syllable. Each line consists of eight accents. 

21. Anapaestic Tetrameter consists of four anapaests; and 
its formula is 4xxa. 

(i) There is very little anapaestic verse in English ; and what little 
there exists is written in tetrameter. 

(ii) The following lines, from " Macgregors' Gathering," by Scott, is 
in anapaestic verse : — 

The moon's' | on the lake', | and the mist's' ] on the brae', | =4xxa 
And the clan' | has a name' | that is name' | less by day'. | = 4xxa 

(hi) It will be observed that the first line begins with an iambus. 
This is admissible ; because an iambus and an anapaest, both having the 
accented syllable last, belong to the same system. 

22. Dactylic Dimeter consists of two dactyls ; and its formula 
is 2axx. 

(i) A well - known example is Tennyson's " Charge of the Light 
Brigade." 

Oan'non to | right' of them, | 2a xx 
Can'non to [ left' of them, | 2axx 
Can'non be | hind' them, - | 2axx 

Vol'leyed and | thun'dered. - | 2axx 

(ii) It will be observed that the last two lines want a syllable to make 
up the two dactyls. Such a line is said to be = 2axx - (minus). 

(hi) Or we may say that the last foot is a trochee ; for a trochee and 
a dactyl can go together in one line, both belonging to the same system 
— both having their accented syllable first. 

23. Dactylic Tetrameter consists of four dactyls ; and its for 
mula is 4axx. 

(i) Bishop Heber's hymn is one of the best examples : — 

Bright'est and | best' of the | sons' of the | morn'ing. 
(ii) The last foot here again is a trochee, 
(hi) There is very little of this kind of verse in English poetry. 

24. Amphibrachic Tetrameter consists of four amphibrachs ; 
and its formula is 4xax. 



THE GRAMMAR OF VERSE, OR PROSODY. 2Ui 

(i) Campbell's well-known poem is a good example : — 
There came' to | the beach' a | poor ex'ile | of E'rin. 
(ii) There are very few examples in English of this kind of verse. 

25. The following lines "by Coleridge give both examples and 
descriptions of the most important metres explained in the j)re- 
ceding paragraphs. It must be observed that Coleridge uses the 
term long for accented; and short for unaccented syllables: — 

Tro'chee | trips' from | long' to | short' — | 

From long to long in solemn sort, 

Slow spon | dee 1 stalks || strong' foot, yet j ill' able 

E'ver to j come' up with | dac'tyl tri | syllable | . 

lam' | bics march' | from sho'rt | to long' j ; 

With a leap' | and a bound' | the swift an' | apsests throng' ] ; 

One syl'la | ble long' with | one short' at | each side — | 

Amphi'brach | ys hastes' with | a stately | stride. 

26. A verse with a syllable over and above the number of 
feet of which it consists is called Hypermetrical. 

(i) Thus, Coleridge has, in his " Ancient Mariner " — 
Day af | ter day, | day af | ter day, | 

We stuck : | nor breath | nor mo | tion, (hyper) 
As id | le as | a paint | ed ship | 

Upon | a paint | ed o | cean. (hyper) 

Here the syllables tion and cean are over from the iambic trimeter 
verse, and the line is therefore said to be hypermetrical. 

27. A verse with a syllable wanting to the number of feet 
of which it consists is said to be defective. 

(i) Thus, in Scott's " Monks of Bangor " — 

Slaughtered | down' by | heath'en | blade'- | 4ax- 
Ban'gor's | peace'ful | monks' are | laid'. - | 4ax- 

we find a syllable wanting to each line. But that syllable is an un- 
accented one ; and the verse consists of four trochees minus one syllable, 
or 4 ax -. 

(ii) Caution ! — Some persons confuse the defective with the hyper- 
metrical line. Thus, in the verses — 

Shall' I | wast'ing | in' de | spair', - | 
Die' be | cause a | wom'an's | fair' ? - | 

the syllable spair is not hypermetrical. An unaccented syllable is 
wanting to it ; and the lines are 4ax defective or minus. 



1 A spondee consists of two long or accented syllables. It is a foot not 
employed in English ; but it exists in the two words amen and farewell. 



202 COMPOSITION. PUNCTUATION, ETC. 



EHYME. 

28. Rhyme has been denned by Milton as the "jingling 
sound of like endings." It may also be defined as a corre- 
spondence in sound at the ends of lines in poetry. 

(i) Rhyme is properly spelled rime. The word originally meant num- 
ber ; and the Old English word for arithmetic was rime-craft. It 
received its present set of letters from a confusion with the Greek word 
rhythm, which means & flowing. 

(ii) Professor Skeat says " it is one of the worst-spelt words in the 
language." "It is," he says, "impossible to find an instance of the 
spelling rhyme before 1550." Shakespeare generally wrote rime. 

29. No rhyme can be good unless it satisfies four conditions. 
These are : — 

1. The rhyming syllable must be accented. Thus ringf 

rhymes with sing' ; but not with thinking. 

2. The vowel sound must be the same — to the ear, that is ; 

though not necessarily to the eye. Thus lose and close 
are not good rhymes. 

3. The final consonant must be the same. {Mix and tricks 

are good rhymes ; because x = ks.) 

L The preceding consonant must be different. 
Beat and feet ; jump and pump are good rhymes. 

30. The English language is very poor in rhymes, when 
compared with Italian or German. Accordingly, half-rhymes 
are admissible, and are frequently employed. 

The following rhymes may be used : — 

Sun. Love. Allow. Ever. Taste. 

Gone. Move. Bestow. River, Past. 



THE CAESURA. 203 



THE CESURA. 

31. The rhythm or musical flow of verse depends on the 
p-aried succession of phrases of different lengths. But, most of 
all, it is upon the Caesura, and the position of the Caesura, 
that musical flow depends. 

The word caesura is a Latin word, and means a cutting. 

32. The Caesura in a line is the rest or halt or break or 
pause for the voice in reading aloud. It is found in short as 
well as in long lines. 

(i) The following is an example from the short lines of ' Marmion ' 
(vl 332) :— 

\\ More pleased that || in a barbarous age 
2J He gave rude Scotland || Virgil's page, 

1 Than that H beneath his rule he held 

2 The bishopric || of fair Dunkeld. 

It will be seen from this that Sir Walter Scott takes care to vary the 
position of the caesura in each line — sometimes having it after 1{ feet, 
sometimes after 2 ; and so on. 

(ii) The following is an example from the long lines of the " Lycidas " 
of Milton : — 

2 Now, Lycidas, || the shepherds weep no more ; 
1 Henceforth || thou art the genius of the shore 

3 In tlvy large recompense, || and shalt be good 
2J To all that wander || in that perilous flood. 

Milton, too, is careful to vary the position of his caesura ; and most of 
the music and much of the beauty of his blank verse depend upon the 
fact that the caesura appears now at the beginning, now at the middle, 
now at the end of his lines ; and never in the same place in two con- 
secutive verses. 

(iii) Of all the great writers of English verse, Pope is the one who 
places the caesura worst — worst, because it is almost always in the 
same place. Let us take an example from his "Rape of the Lock" 
(canto i.) : — 

2 The busy sylphs || surround their darling care, 
2 These set the head, || and these divide the hair ; 
2 Some fold the sleeve, || whilst others plait the gown ; 
2 And Betty's praised || for labours not her own. 

And so he goes on for thousands upon thousands of verses. The symbol 
of Pope's caesura is a straight line ; the symbol of Milton's is " the line 
of beauty " — a line of perpetually varying and harmonious curves. 



204 . COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, ETC. 



THE STANZA. 

33. A Stanza is a group of rhymed lines. 

The word comes from an old Italian word, stantia, an abode. 

34. Two rhymed lines are called a couplet ; and this may be 
looked upon as the shortest kind of stanza. 

(i) The most usual couplet in English consists of two rhymed iambic 
pentameter lines. This is called the " heroic couplet." 

35. A stanza of three rhymed lines is called a triplet. 

(i) A very good example is to be found in Tennyson's poem of " The 
Two Voices," which consists entirely of triplets : — 

" Whatever crazy sorrow saith, 
No life that breathes with human breath 
Has ever truly longed for death." 

36. A stanza of four rhymed lines — of which the first (some- 
times) rhymes with the third, and the second (always) with 
the fourth — is called a quatrain. 

(i) The ordinary ballad metre consists of quatrains — that is, foui 
lines, two of iambic tetrameter, and two of iambic trimeter. 

(ii) A quatrain of iambic pentameters is called Elegiac Verse. Tho 
best known example is Gray's " Elegy in a Country Churchyard." 

37. A stanza of six lines is called a sextant. 

(i) There are many kinds. One is used in Hood's " Dream of Eugene 
Aram," which is written in 4xa and 3xa ; the second, fourth, and sixth 
lines rhyming. 

(ii) Another in Whittier's " Barclay of Ury," which has the first and 
second lines, the third and sixth, the fourth and fifth, rhyming with 
each other. 

(iii) Another in Lowell's "Yussouf," which has the first and third 
lines, the second and fourth, and the fifth and sixth rhyming. 

38. A stanza of eight lines is called an octave, or ottava 
rima. 

(Pronounced ottahva reema.) 

39. A stanza of nine lines is called the Spenserian stanza, 

"beeause Edmund Spenser employed it in his " Faerie Queene." * 



THE STANZA, 205 

(i) The first eight lines of this stanza are in 5x a ; the last line, in 6xa. 
(ii) The rhymes run thus : abab; bebcc. 

40. A short poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines — with 
the rhymes arranged in a peculiar way — is called a sonnet. 

(i) This is a form which has been imported into England from Italy, 
where it was cultivated by many poets — the greatest among these being 
Dante and Petrarch, both of them poets of the thirteenth century. 
The best English sonnet-writers are Milton, Wordsworth, and Mrs 
Browning. 

(ii) The sonnet consists of two parts — an octave (of eight lines), and 
a sestette (of six). The rhymes in the octave are often varied, being 
sometimes abba, acca: those in the sestette are sometimes a be, abc ; 
or ababec. 

(iii) Shakespeare's " Sonnets " are not formed on the Italian model, 
and can hardly be called sonnets at all. They are really short poems of 
three quatrains, ending in each case with a rhymed couplet. 

(iv) The following is Wordsworth's sonnet on " The Sonnet " : — 

"Scorn not the Sonnet; critic, you have frowned a, 

Mindless of its just honours : with this key h 

Shakspeare unlocked his heart; the melody 6 

Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound ; a 

A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound; a 

With it Camoens soothed an exile's grief; c 

The sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf c 

v Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned a 

'His visionary brow ; a glow-worm lamp d 

It cheered mild Spenser, called from fairyland e 

To struggle through dark ways ; and when a damp d 

Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand e 

I The thing became a trumpet, whence he blew / 

^Soul-animating strains — alas, too few ! " / 



EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE I. (Introduction, p. 3). 

1. What do you understand by the language of a people ? 2. Dis- 
tinguish between phonetics and alphabetics. 3. Define grammar. 
4. Contrast our present language with what it was in the fifth 
century. 5. Account for the difference. 6. What part of grammar is 
unnecessary except in a written language ? 7. Distinguish between 
orthography and etymology. 8. Show the connection between syntax 
and prosody. 

EXERCISE II. (Sounds and Letters, p. 5). 

1. Show the difference between a vowel and a consonant. 2. Say 
which are the vowels in the following words : young, wonder, worth, 
hypercritical, abstemious, yell, iota. 3. Name the diphthongs, if any, 
in continuous, idea, shoeing, join, oasis, reason, porous, variety, spon- 
taneity. 4. How are consonants classified ? 5. Select the dentals and 
gutturals from the following words : dog, gate, gentle, truth, thank, 
hog, gymnastic, pneumatic, drink, conquered. 6. Select the palatals 
and labials from the following words : Job, Benjamin, archiepiscopate, 
bdellium, method, psalm, yacht. 7. Distinguish between mutes and 
spirants. 8. Show which are the dental and which the palatal spir- 
ants in scissors, rush, shawl, zealously, laziness, azimuth, zephyr, harass. 
9. Change as many as you can of the following into corresponding 
sharp sounds : bad, dove, dig, bag, bathe, gad, beg, Jude, dug, Jove, 
gab, jug. 10. Reduce the following sharp to flat sounds : pack, buck, 
cat, set, trick, chick, pet. 11. Classify the consonants in the word 
fundamental. 

EXERCISE III. (The Alphabet, p. 7). 

1. What is an alphabet? 2. Trace the growth of the alphabet. 
3. What are the characteristics of a true alphabet? 4. Prove our 
alphabet faulty. 5. Which are the redundant letters ? 



208 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE IV. (Nouns, p. 9). 

1. What is a noun? 2. How are nouns classified? 3. Define 
abstract nouns. 4. Classify the nouns in the following : — 

(a) "Come forth into the light of things, 

Let nature be your teacher. " — Wordsworth. 

(6) "Welcome, learn'd Cicero ! whose blessed tongue and wit 
Preserves Rome's greatness yet." — Cowley. 

(c) " All in the Downs the fleet lay moor'd." — Dibdin. 

(d) ''Poictiers and Cressy tell, 

When most their pride did swell." — Drayton. 

(e) "Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is 
brutality. " — Ruskin. 

(f) Parliament was prorogued. The troop returned to barracks. 
The jury disagreed. Many a congregation missed him. The flock 
was driven down the lane. 

5. Make abstract nouns of true, noble, young, Icing, patient, man, lord, 
intrude, rogue, slave, poor, domain, catechise, exemplify. 



EXERCISE V. 
Classify the nouns in the following : — 

" Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: 

The soul that rises with us, our Life's Star, 
Hath had elsewhere its setting, 

And cometh from afar : 
Not in entire forgetfulness, 
And not in utter nakedness, 
But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
From God, who is our home: 

Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! 
Shades of the prison-house begin to close 

Upon the growing Boy, 
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows 

He sees it in his joy !" — Wordsworth. 



EXERCISE VI. (Gender, p. 11). 

1. What is inflexion? 2. Define gender. 3. Give the different 
ways in which gender is marked. 4. Give the gender of Londoner, 
chief, senor, actor, debtor, sailor, kitten, sheep, charity, knave, moon, ant, 
spouse, bee, laundress. 5. Give the masculine of spinster, doe, slut, ewe, 
nymph, bride, heifer, Harriet, infanta, baxter, lass, czarina, vixen. 
6. Write the feminine of man, widower, patron, drake, marquis, gan- 



EXERCISES. • 209 

der, friar, sire,, benefactor, executor, tutor, hart. 7. What is the fem- 
inine corresponding to each of the following? son, nephew, earl, boar, 
Paul, gaffer, filly. 8. Arrange the words in (4) and (5) as of Teutonic 
or of Latin origin. 



EXERCISE VII. (Number, p. 15). 

1. Define number. 2. Give the chief ways of forming plurals. 
3. Supply the plurals of child, chief, cloth, calf, horse, table, Dutchman, 
German, Henry, Babylon, trout, week, fly, solo, monkey, commander-in- 
chief, index, boot, foot. 4. Also of House of Parliament, mouse, lily, 
turkey, gas, box, genius, Mr Jones, canto, penny, crisis, Miss Foote, Lord 
Mayor, lady -help, relief, dye, buoy, colloquy, clearer -up, spoonful. 
5. Write the singulars of kine, sheep, tenori, radii, series, data, dice, 
analyses, cherubim, hosen (Dan., chap. iii. ver. 21). 6. Distinguish be- 
tween pease and peas, brothers and brethren, dies and dice, geniuses and 
genii. 7. Justify the use of each of the following : memorandums, foci, 
indices, bandits, funguses, seraphs. 8. State the number of each of the 
nouns in the following : — 

(a) "The audience were too much interested." — Scott. 

(b) "The court were seated for judgment." — Id. 

(c) " The garrison only bestow a few bolts on it." — Id. 

(d) " The House of Lords were so much influenced." — Hume. 

(e) "The weaker sex themselves." — Id. 

(f) "All his tribe are blind." — Bunyan. 



EXERCISE VIII. 

State the kind and number of each of the nouns in the 
following : — 

(a) " He sees that this great round-about, 
The world with all its motley rout, — 

Church, army, physic, law, 
Its customs and its businesses, 
Is no concern at all of his." — Gowper. 

(b) " Nature is but the name for an effect, 
Of which the cause is God. " — Id. 

(c) " Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own, 

Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind." — Wordsworth. 

(d) "The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, 

And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears." — Scott. 

(e) "A look of kind Truth, a word of Goodwill, 
Are the magical helps on Life's road ; 
With a mountain to travel they shorten the hill, 
With a burden they lighten the load. " 

— Eliza Cook. 



210 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE IX. 

Give the kind, gender, and number of the nouns in the 
following : — 
(a) "A baby was sleeping, its mother was weeping, 

For her husband was far on the wild raging sea." — S. Lover. 

(6) " Perhaps that very hand, now pinion'd flat, 

Has hob-a-nobb'd with Pharaoh, glass to glass ; 

Or dropp'd a halfpenny in Homer's hat, 

Or dofFd thine own to let Queen Dido pass, 

Or held, by Solomon's own invitation, 

A torch at the great Temple's dedication." — Horace Smith. 

(c) " Britannia needs no bulwark, 

No towers along the steep." — Campbell. 

(d) " He spoke of the grass, and flowers, and trees, 

Of the singing birds, and the humming bees, 

Then talked of the haying, and wonder'd whether 

The cloud in the west would bring foul weather. " — J. G. Whittier. 

EXERCISE X. (Case, p. 19). 

1. Define case. 2. For what cases are nouns inflected? 3. What 
determines the nominative case ? 4. Define nominative absolute. 

5. Show the two ways of denoting the possessive case. 6. Define 
cognate object. 7. Why are dative objects so called ? 8. Give the 
meaning of factitive as applied to the objective case. 9. What is an 
adverbial object. 

EXERCISE XI. 

Select the nominatives in the following : — 

1. The bloom falls in May. 2. The ostriches' heads were not to 
be seen. 3. "The kine," said he, "I'll quickly feed." 4. The kine 
were fed. 5. The captain falling ill, the boatswain took charge. 

6. A wandering minstrel am I. 7. Here lies the body of a noble 
man. 8. Richard, they say, was cruel. 9. The bell ringing, the 
children assembled. 10. Richard, William's son, was killed in the 
New Forest. 11. Go quickly. 12. A number of sheep, losing their 
way, fell over the precipice. 13. Rattle his bones over the stones. 
14. The guide falling ill, the travellers had to rely on his dog. 15. 
Ah ! Charlie, my son, you cheer your old mother ! 

EXERCISE XII. 

Point Out the objective case in each of the following sen- 
tences : — 

1. Britannia rules the waves. 2. Pardon me. 3. I beg your par- 
don. 4. To-night no moon I see. 5. How many birds did they catch ? 
6. He rode two miles. 7. The king conferred with the general. 8. 



EXERCISES. 211. 

The children laughed at the squirrel. 9. Let me die the death of the 
righteous. 10. The crooked oak I'll fell to-day. 11. A liar who can 
trust? 12. We know a tree by its fruit. 13. He told a good tale. 
14. The boy sneered at the idea. 15. Richard slew his godfather, 
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the king-maker. 



EXERCISE XIII. 
Write the following in the ordinary possessive form :— 

1. The bark of a dog. 2. The twitter of the swallows. 3. The 
books of John. 4. The spades of the workmen. 5. The studies of 
James. 6. The scissors of Miss Cissy Moses. 7. The lute of Or- 
pheus. 8. The sword of Achilles. 9. The subscriptions of the ladies. 
10. The death of the Marquis of Londonderry. 11. The cries of the 
babies. 12. The marriage of Richard, Earl of Cambridge. 13. The 
innocence of the lilies. 14. The head of a sheep. 15. The tails of 
sheep. 16. The jubilee of Victoria, Queen of England. 17. The sake 
of my conscience. 

EXERCISE XTV. 

Give particulars of the cases of each of the nouns in the 
following : — 

1. Toll for the brave. 2. Flaxen was his hair. 3. Ho, gunners ! fire 
a loud salute. 4. Give the man a draught from the spring. 5. The 
parson told the sexton, and the sexton toll'd the bell. 6. Boys, you 
deserve to have a holiday given you. 7. It is very like a whale. 
8. In this place ran Cassius' dagger through. 9. He paid him the debt 
for conscience' sake. 10. The king's baker dreamed a dream. 11. 
The lady lent the boy 'Robinson Crusoe.' 12. Bid your wife be 
judge. 13. The Count of Anjou became leader. 14. Joan seemed a 
holy woman. 15. Charles appointed Buckingham commander. 
16. Let the actors play the play. 17. John walked two hours and 
travelled seven miles. 18. How many hired servants of my father's 
have bread enough. 19. I have a sixpence, but no pennies. 20. Ben- 
jamin, Joseph's own brother, Jacob's youngest son, was kept a 
prisoner. 

EXERCISE XV. 

State fully the cases of the nouns in the following : — 

1. The sergeant choosing the tallest, the other recruits dispersed. 
2. Old Kaspar's work was done. 3. William, sing a song. 4. She 
made the poor girl a dress. 5. She knitted all day. 6. The tide 
floated the vessel. 7. The boy swam his little boat. 8. Let the king 
be your leader. 9. A small hole will sink a ship. 10. Let bygones 
be bygones. 

11. It rains, it hails, it blows, it snows, 
Methinks I'm wet thro' all my clothes. 



212 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE XVI. 

Parse fully all the nouns occurring in the sentences quoted 
below : — 

(a) "Trusse up thy packe, and trudge from me, to every little boy, 

And tell them thus from me, their time most happy is, 

If to theyr time they reason had to know the truth of this." 

— The Earl of Surrey. 

(b) " Underneath this sable hearse 

Lies the subject of all verse, 

Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother. "- — Ben Jonson. 

(c) " Give me a looke, give me a face, 

That makes simplicitie a grace. " — Id. 

(d) ' ' His house was known to all the vagrant train ; 

He chid their wand'rings, but relieved their pain." — Goldsmith. 

(e) " Yet shall poor Tom lind pleasant weather, 

When He, who all commands, 
Shall give, to call life's crew together, 
The word to pipe all hands." — C. Dibdin. 

EXERCISE XVII. (Pronouns, p. 23). 

1. Define a pronoun, and give derivation. 2. What is a personal 
pronoun? 3. What are the only pronouns that can be used in the 
vocative case ? 4. Which person alone takes distinction of gender ? 
5. What is an interrogative pronoun ? 6. Distinguish between who 
and what, ye and you, thy and thine, and me and myself. 7. Explain 
the ch in which, the m in whom, the ther in whether, and the t in it. 
8. "They who run may read" — where is the conjunction for these 
two sentences? 9. When are reflexive pronouns used? 10. Define 
a distributive pronoun. 

EXERCISE XVIII. 
Give the kind, gender, number, person, and case of each of 
the pronouns below : — 

(a) "I am monarch of all I survey, 

My right there is none to dispute." — Cowper. 

(b) " You yourself are much condemn'd." — Shakespeare. 

(c) " Little children, love one another." — Bible. 

(d) " Few shall part where many meet." — Campbell. 

(e) " Who would fill a coward's grave? " — Burns. 

(f) " You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case." — Shakespeare. 

(g) " Each had his place appointed, each his course." — Milton, 
(h) " Right as a serpent hideth him under flowers." — Chaucer, 
(i) " Of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles." 

— Bible, 
(k) "The stars are out by twos and threes." — Wordsworth. 
(I) " He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, 
And all are slaves besides." — Cowper. 



EXERCISES. 213 



EXERCISE XIX. 

Parse the relatives and antecedents in the following : — 

(a) " To know 
That which before us lies in daily life, 
Is the prime wisdom." — Milton. 

(b) " Who steals my purse steals trash." — Shakespeare. 

(c) " He prayeth best, who loveth best 

All things, both great and small." — Coleridge. 

(d) " Freedom has a thousand charms to show, 

That slaves, howe'er contented, never know." — Cowper. 

(e) " Vain, very vain, my weary search to find 

That bliss which only centres in the mind." — Goldsmith. 

(f) " Be strong, live happy, and love ; but first of all, 
Him whom to love is to obey." — Milton. 

(g) " Whoever lov'd, that lov'd not at first sight ? " — Shakespeare. 

{h) " There were none of the Grograms but could sing a song, or 
of the Marjorams but could tell a story." — Goldsmith, 
i) "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." — Bible. 
k) " Let such teach others, who themselves excel." — Pope. 

EXERCISE XX. 

Parse fully the nouns and pronouns in the following : — 

(a) "That thee is sent receive in buxomness." — Chaucer. 

(b) "Forth, pilgrim forth— on, best out of thy stall, 

Look up on high, and thank the God of all." — Id. 

(c) ' ' The place that she had chosen out, 

Herself in to repose, 
Had they come down, the gods no doubt 
The very same had chose." — Drayton. 

(d) " So, Willy, let you and me be wipers 

Of scores out with all men, especially pipers : 

And, whether they pipe us free from rats or from mice, 

If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise." 

— Browning. 

(e) "Let beeves and home-bred kine partake 

The sweets of Burn-mill meadow ; 

The swan on still Saint Mary's lake 

Float double, swan and shadow." — Wordsworth. 

EXERCISE XXI. (Adjectives, p. 28). 

1. Define an adjective. 2. Show the twofold function of an adjective. 
3. Name the kinds of adjectives. 4. Give the derivation of each 



214 EXERCISES. 

name. 5. In what ways may quantitative adjectives be used? 6, 
How are numeral adjectives classified? 7. What adjectives are 
inflected for number ? 8. What adjectives are inflected for comparison ? 
9. How is the comparative formed ? 10. Distinguish between further 
and farther, older and elder, later and latter. 11. Write the ordinals 
of one, two, three, four, forty, eight, twenty, hundred, five, twelve,. 



EXERCISE XXII. 

Classify the adjectives in the following : — 

1. "In the body politic, as in the natural body, morbid languor 
succeeds morbid excitement." — Macaulay. 2. "So thick a drop 
serene hath quenched their orbs." — Milton. 3. "His ain coat on his 
back is." — Old Song. 4. "He was a ready orator, an elegant poet, 
a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and a most contemptible 
sovereign." — Gibbon. 5. "Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy 
sleep." — Young. 6. "You gave good words the other day of a bay 
courser I rode." — Shakespeare. 7. "The poor man that loveth Christ 
is richer than the richest man." — Bunyan. 8. "Sole Eve, associate 
sole, to me beyond compare above all living creatures dear." — Milton. 
9. "Fox beat half the lawyers in the House at their own weapons.' 
, — Macaulay. 

EXERCISE XXIII. 

Parse fully all the adjectives in the following : — ■ 

1. "The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better 

part I have saved my life." — Shakespeare. 2. " Act well your part; 

there all the honour lies." — Pope. 3. "The greater the new power 

they create, the greater seems their revenge against the old. " — Bulwer. 

4. "It was a very low fire indeed for such a bitter night." — Dickens. 

5. " Some three or four of you go, give him courteous conduct to this 
place." — Shakespeare. 6. "Many a carol, old and saintly, sang the 
minstrels. " — Longfellow. 7. ' ' The morning comes cold for a July 
one." — Carlyle. 8. " I'll fill another pipe. " — Sterne. 9. " Our host 
presented us round to each other." — Thackeray. 10. "He is one of 
those wise philanthropists." — Jerrold. 11. "We two saw you four 
set on four. " — Shakespeare. 12. "This said, they both betook them 
several ways." — Milton. 13. " Blazing London seem'd a second 
Troy. ' ' — Cowper. 

EXERCISE XXIV. 

(1) Compare the following adjectives where they admit of 
it:— 

Stout, thin, marvellous, calm, shy, lady-like, gentlemanly, wet, honour- 
able, dead, near, full, prim, lovely, clayey, happy, sad, solar. 

(2) Write the positive of 

Next, more, inner, last, least, first, inmost, better. 



EXERCISES. 21J 



EXERCISE XXV. 



Parse fully the adjectives in the following : — 
1. "This dress and that by turns you tried." — Tennyson. 2. 
"That sun that warms you here shall shine on me." — Shakespeare. 

3. "Those thy fears might have wrought fears in me." — Shakespeare. 

4. "Can the false-hearted boy have chosen such a tool as yonder 
fellow?" — Dickens. 5. "Look here, upon this picture, and on this; 
the counterfeit presentment of two brothers." — Shakespeare. 6. "My 
father lived at Blenheim then, yon little stream hard by." — Southey. 

7. " The oracles are dumb ; 

No voice or hideous hum 

Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving." — Milton. 

8. " She stepped upon Sicilian grass, 

Demeter's daughter, fresh and fair, 
A child of light, a radiant lass, 

And gamesome as the morning air. " — Jean Ingdow. 



EXERCISE XXVI. 

Parse the nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the following: — 
(a) ' ' Lord ! Thou dost love Jerusalem, 
Once she was all Thy own : 
Her love Thy fairest heritage, 

Her power Thy glory's throne." — Moore. 

(6) "As proper men as ever trod upon neat's leather have gone 
upon my handiwork." — Shakespeare. 

(c) " O, Sir, to wilful men, 

The injuries that they themselves procure 
Must be their schoolmasters. " — Shakespeare. 

(d) "True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 

As those move easiest who have learned to dance." — Pope. 

(e) " Who said that I had given thee up ? 

Who said that thou wert sold ? " — Mrs Norton. 



EXERCISE XXVII. (The Verb, p. 34). 

1 . Define a verb. 2. What are the two great classes into which verbs 
are divided ? 3. Define a transitive verb. 4. Name the ways in which 
an intransitive verb may become transitive. 5. What is the test for a 
prepositional verb? 6. What is an auxiliary? 7. Why are auxili- 
aries necessary ? 8. What is voice ? 9. What are the only verbs 
that can be in the passive voice ? 10. Why? 11. How is the passive 
voice formed ? 



216 EXERCISES. 

EXERCISE XXVIII. 

Classify the verbs in the following into transitive and ir 
transitive : — 

(a) « Who reads 

Incessantly, and to his reading brings not 
A spirit and judgment equal or superior, 
Uncertain and unsettled still remains." — Milton. 

{b) " As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, 

I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. " — Pope. 

(c) " I think, articulate, I laugh and weep, 

And exercise all the functions of a man ; 
How then should I and any man that lives 
Be strangers to each other ? — Cowper. 

{d) "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever ; 
Its loveliness increases ; it will never 
Pass into nothingness." — Keats. 

(e) "He prayeth best, who loveth best 
All things, both great and small ; 
For the dear God who loveth us, 

He made and loveth all." — Coleridge. 

EXERCISE XXIX. 

Arrange the following verbs as prepositional or causative : — 
1. The magistrate swore in the constables. 2. The goodness of the 
soil soon raised a crop. 3. I have spoken to a man who once baited a 
hook and drew in a pike. 4. The gardener will fell the tree, and lay 
out the borders. 5. The pirates having jeered at the threats, sank 
the ship. 6. Some of the children will fly kites, others swim boats. 
7. Tom will run his pony up and down. 8. They glory in little 
faults, wink at great ones, and cough down the remonstrances of the 
wise men. 

9. "A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 

Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and killed. " — Shakespeare. 

EXERCISE XXX. 

Rewrite the first eight sentences in the foregoing exercise 
in the passive voice. 

EXERCISE XXXI. 

Give particulars of the tense of each of the verbs in the fol- 
lowing : — 

(a) " The king is come to marshal us, all in his armour drest." 

— Macaulay. 

(b) "I would not have believed it unless I had happened to have 
been there." — Dickens. 

(c) "I am, I will, I shall be happy." — Lytlon. 



EXERCISES. 217 

(d) You are fighting a shadow, (e) I shall have had enough of this. 
(/) Why came ye hither? {g) Knew ye not what they had lost? 
(h) We know not, neither do we care, {i) A man who had lost his 
way, stopped till a boy came sauntering along, (k) " Am I in the 
right road for London?" said the man. (/) "Yes," was the reply; 
" but you will not get there till you have walked twelve miles." (m) 
" I have been walking three hours already, and I shall have been 
travelling a whole day ere I reach my journey's end." 

EXERCISE XXXII. 

State the mood of each of the verbs in the following, and 
point out the gerunds and participles : — 

(a) "I dare do all that may become a man : 

Who dares do more is none." — Shakespeare. 

{b) " Now, wherefore stopp'st thou me ? " — Coleridge. 

(c) " Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, 

And fools who came to scoff remained to pray." — Goldsmith. 

(d) ' ' Well, sit we down, 

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. " — Shakespeare. 

(e) "I watched the little circles die." — Tennyson. 

(/) " I am ashamed to observe you hesitate." — Scott. 

{g) " Come unto these yellow sands, 
And then take hands ; 
Curtsied when you have, and kissed, 
(The wild waves whist) 
Foot it featly here and there." — Shakespeare. 

(h) "I do not think my sister so to seek." — Milton. 

(i) ' ' Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear 
In all my misery, but thou hast forc'd me 
Out of thine honest truth to play the woman. 
Let's dry our eyes, and thus far hear me, Cromwell." 

— Shakespeare. 

EXERCISE XXXIII. 

Select the auxiliaries from the following sentences, and show 
the force of each : — 

(a) "I did send to you for gold." — Shakespeare. 

(b) " The king is come to marshal us." — Macaulay. 

(c) " Full fathom five thy father lies ; 

Of his bones are coral made : 
Those are pearls that were his eyes, 

Nothing of him that doth fade." — Shakespeare. 

(d) " The lark has sung his carol in the sky, 

The bees have humm'd their noon-tide lullaby." — Rogers. 



218 EXERCISES. 

(e) " He was — whatever thou hast been, 

He is — what thou shalt be." — Montgomery. 

(/) "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?"— 
Shakespeare. 

(g) " Must I then leave you ? " — Id. 

(h) I shall be drowned if none will save me ! (i) Will he not come 
again? (k) We have been thinking over the matter. (I) The 
soldiers are to be marching by six o'clock, (m) By Friday they will 
have been working four days, (n) Do try to come early, (o) He 
could have been there had he wished to have been seen by his old 
friends. 

EXERCISE XXXIV. 

Arrange the verbs in Exercises XXVII. to XXXIII. as 
strong or weak. 

EXERCISE XXXV. 

1. Of what verbs is the verb be made up? 2. Give the four ways 
in which this verb is used. 3. State the use of be in each of the 
following instances: (a) "Whatever is, is right." — Pope, {b) Thou 
art the man. (c) I shall be there, (d) They are to resign, (e) David 
was a bold man. (/) The men will be chosen by lot. (g) He is gone 
to his grave, {h) "Be off ! " cried the old man to the boys who were 
teasing him. 

EXERCISE XXXVI. 

1. Give the mood auxiliaries. 2. Name the tense auxiliaries, and 
give the limitation of each. 3. Why are can and may called defective 
verbs ? 4. In what tense is the verb must never used ? 5. What was 
the original meaning of the word ? 6. And what is its present idea ? 

EXERCISE XXXVII. (Adverbs, p. 57). 

1. Define an adverb. 2. In what two ways may adverbs be classi- 
fied ? 3. Show the twofold function of a conjunctive adverb. 4. Give 
the classification of adverbs according to their meaning. 

EXERCISE XXXVIII. 

Arrange as simple or conjunctive the adverbs in the follow- 
ing:— 

1. Come where the moonbeams linger. 2. Where are you going? 
3. Where the bee sucks, there lurk I. 4. Come in. 5. Look out ! 
Here comes the beadle, so let us run. 6. Who's there ? 7. I know 
a bank whereon the wild thyme grows. 8. Then out spake bold 
Horatius. 9. She is beautiful because she is good. 10. Verily 
here are sweetly scented herbs, therefore will we set us down awhile 
till our friends leisurely return. 



EXERCISES. 219 

EXERCISE XXXIX. 
Classify all the adverbs in the following : — 

(a) " Once again we'll sleep secure." — Shakespeare, 

(b) ' ' My father lived at Blenheim then, 

Yon little stream hard by. " — Southey. 

(c) " Thus have I yielded into your hand 

The circle of my glory." — Shakespeare. 

(d) "Now came still evening on." — Milton. 

(e) " Now the great winds shoreward blow, 

Now the salt tides seaward flow." — M. Arnold. 

{/) "We no longer believe in St Edmund." — Carlyle. 
(g) "What so moves thee all at once ? " — Coleridge, 
(h) " Vex not thou the poet's mind." — Tennyson. 

EXERCISE XL. 

Parse the adverbs in the following : — 

(a) " The solemn peaks but to the stars are known, — 

But to the stars, and the cold lunar beams." — M. Arnold, 

(b) "My life is spann'd already." — Shakespeare. 

(c) "You always put things so pleasantly." — Bidwer. 

(d) " Slow and sure comes up the golden year." — Tennyson. 

(e) " Not all the pearls Queen Mary wears, 

Nor Margaret's still more precious tears, 
Shall buy his life a day. " — Scott. 

(/) "Therefore make her grave straight. "^Shakespeare. 

(g) " Why holds thine eye that melancholy rheum ? '"' — Id. 

(h) A very inquisitive child once saucily asked of an exceedingly 
needy-looking man, "Where do you most generally dine?^ Immedi- 
ately the all but actually starving man replied somewhat sadly, though 
quite smartly withal, "Near anything I may get to eat." 

EXERCISE XLI. 

Parse fully the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and 
adverbs in the following: — 

(a) " Go out, children, from the mine and from the city, 
Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do : 
Pluck your handfuls of the meadow cowslips pretty, 
Laugh aloud, to feel your fingers let them through." 

— Mrs Browning. 

(b) "None of us yet know, for none of us have yet been taught in 
early youth, what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought — 
proof against all adversity." — Buskin. 



220 EXERCISES. 

EXERCISE XLII. (Prepositions, p. 58). 

Select the prepositions in the following, and say what they 
connect and govern : — 

1. In the corner of the box near the bench behind the door, is the 
picture of a man without a coat to his back. 2. Notwithstanding 
he had returned with wood, they sent for some more. 3. The lady 
in purple is in mourning. 4. Respecting the scholars, all but Charles 
read through the chapter concerning Galileo. 5. Whom are you 
writing to? 6. Come in, Puss, to your kittens. 7- That is the 
book I spoke about. 

EXERCISE XLIII. 

1. Define a preposition. 2. What words are affected by preposi- 
tions? 3. Give a list of simple prepositions. 4. Show the com- 
position of the following prepositions : but, beside, after, until, aboard, 
beneath, among, beyond. 

EXERCISE XLIV. (Conjunctions, p. 60). 

1. Define a conjunction. 2. What is a subordinate conjunction? 
3. Classify the conjunctions in the following : — 

(a) * ' My hair is grey, but not with years, 
Nor grew it white 
In a single night. " — Byron. 

(b) " Neither a borrower nor a lender be." — Shakespeare. 

(c) "Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen." — Milton. 

(d) ft Man never is, but always to be blest." — Pope. 

(e) ' ' Must I then leave you ? " — Shakespeare. 

(f) " Wealth may seek us, but wisdom must be sought." — Young. 

(g) "T saw Mark Antony offer him a crown ; yet it was not a crown 

neither. " — Shakespeare. 

EXERCISE XLV. (Syntax, p. 64). 

1. What determines the "part of speech" a word is? 2. Define 
syntax. 3. Into what two parts may it be divided ? 4. What two 
questions might be asked concerning each word in a sentence ? 

5. State the principal concords existing in the English language. 

6. Name the chief instances of government in our language. 

EXERCISE XLVI. 

Give full particulars of all nominatives in the following 
quotations : — 

(a) " So work the honey bees, 

Creatures that by a rule in nature teach 

The art of order to a peopled kingdom. " — Shakespeare, 



EXERCISES. 221 

{b) " Clatters each plank and swinging chain." — Scott. 

(c) "A white wall is the paper of a fool. " — G. Herbert. 

(d) "I that speak to thee am he." — Bible. 

(e) "Thus now alone he conqueror remains." — Spenser. 
(/) " He returned a friend who came a foe." — Pope. 

(g) " Ah, then, what honest triumph flush'd my breast ! 

This truth once known — To bless is to be blest ! " — Goldsmith, 
(h) " Ho ! gallant nobles of the League, look that your arms be 
bright. " — Macaulay. 

EXERCISE XLVII. 
Explain the possessives in the following : — 

(a) " And hers shall be the breathing balm, .... 
And beauty born of murmuring sound, 
Shall pass into her face." — Wordsworth. 

(6) "Then shall man's pride and dulness comprehend 

His actions', passions', being's use and end." — Pope. 

(c) " Ere thou remark another's sin, 

Bid thy own conscience look within." — Gay. 

(d) "Anything that money would buy had been his son's." — 

Thackeray. 

(e) " Though dark be my way, since He is my guide, 

'Tis mine to obey, 'tis His to provide." — J. Newton. 

EXERCISE XLVIII. 
Give full particulars of all the objectives in the following : — 

(a) "Your tanner will last you nine year." — Shakespeare. 

(b) "There were some that ran, and some that leapt 

Like troutlets in a pool. " — Hood. 

(c) "He has two essential parts of a courtier, pride and ignorance. 

— Ben Jonson. 

(d) "I would gladly look him in the face." — Shakespeare. 

(e) " Clearing the fence, he cried " Halloo ! " 

(/) ' ' They made him captain, and he gave them orders to sail the 
boat six leagues south of the point." 

EXERCISE XLIX. 

1. How are most adjectives inflected? 2. In what two ways are 
adjectives used ? Classify those in the following in accordance with 
your last answer : — 

(a) " When I was dry with rage and extreme toil, 
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, 
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd.' r — Shakespeare. 



222 EXERCISES. 

(h) " Still more majestic shalt thou rise, 

More dreadful from each foreign stroke ; 
As the loud blast that tears the skies 

Serves but to root thy native oak." — Thomson. 

(c) " They considered themselves fortunate in making the children 
happy, and in rendering the despairing hopeful." • 



EXERCISE L. 

1. In what way is a participle an adjective? 2. What function of 
a verb does it retain? 3. What number is used with the distribu- 
tives ? 4. Say all that is necessary of the adjectives below : — 

(a) " Each horseman drew his battle blade, 

And furious every charger neighed." — CampbeU. 

(b) " He made me mad 

To see him shine so brisk and smell so sweet, 

And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman." — Shakespeare. 

(c) " Sweet Isle ! within thy rock-girt shore is seen 

Nature in her sublimest dress arrayed. — E. Foshett. 

(d) "Into the valley of death 

Rode the six hundred." — Tennyson. 

(e) "A form more fair, a face more sweet, 

Ne'er hath it been my lot to meet. — J. G. Whittier. 

(f) " Hard lot ! encompass'd with a thousand dangers ; 

Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors, 
I'm call'd, if vanquish'd, to receive a sentence 
Worse than Abiram's." — Cowper. 



EXERCISE LI. 

Show the agreement of the pronouns with nouns in the fol- 
lowing : — 

{a) " On she came with a cloud of canvas, 

Right against the wind that blew. " — Coleridge. 

(b) " Who said that I had given thee up ? 

Who said that thou wert sold ? " — Mrs Norton. 

(c) ' ' She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, 

And I lov'd her that she did pity them." — Shakespeare. 

(d) ' ' The eye — it cannot choose but see ; 

We cannot bid the ear be still ; 
Our bodies feel, where'er they be, 

Against, or with our will. " — Wordswortli. 



EXERCISES. 223 



EXERCISE LII. 

Show the concords of the antecedents and relatives in the 
following : — 

(a) " Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are." 

— Macaulay. 

(6) " Not a pine in my grove is there seen, 

But with tendrils of woodbine is bound. " — Shenstone. 

(c) c< This sword a dagger had, his page, 

That was but little for his age. " — Butler. 

(d) ' ' My banks they are furnished with bees, 

Whose murmur invites one to sleep. " — Shenstone. 

(e) " Then palaces shall rise ; the joyful son 

Shall finish what his short-lived sire begun. " — Pope. 



EXERCISE Lin. 

Show the concord of each verb in the following with its 
subject, and quote the rule in each case : — 

(a) "I sing the birth was born to-night, 

The author both of life and light. " — Ben Jonson* 

(b) " Blow, blow, thou winter wind, 

Thou art not so unkind 

As man's ingratitude." — Shakespeare. 

(c) " Sundays the pillars are 

On which heaven's palace arched lies. " — G. Herbert. 

{d) " Can storied urn or animated bust 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? " — Gray. 

(e) ' ' Our company were now arrived within a mile of Highgate. " 

— Fielding. 

(/) " Neither a borrower nor a lender be. " — Shakespeare. 



EXERCISE LIV. 

Point out the governing verbs and their objects in the fol- 
lowing : — 

(a) " He gave to misery all he had, a tear." — Gray. 

(b) " They made me queen of the May." — Tennyson. 

(c) " Thou hast a tongue, come, let us hear its tune." 

— Horace Smith. 



224 EXEKCISES. 

(d) " Past all dishonour, 

Death has left on her 

Only the beautiful." — T. Hood. 

(e) " Methinks we must have known some former state." 

— L. E. Landon. 

(/) " To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, 

And read their history in a nation's eyes, 
Their lot forbade." — Gray. 



EXERCISE LV. 

Explain fully the mood of each verb in the following : — 

(a) ' ' Had I a heart for falsehood framed, 

I ne'er could injure you."- — Sheridan. 

(b) " The good of ancient times let others state ; 

I think it lucky I was born so late." — Sydney Smith. 

(c) " Oh, then, while hums the earliest bee, 

Where verdure fires the plain, 
Walk thou with me, and stoop to see 
The glories of the lane ! "—Eb. Elliott. 

(d) " They make obeisance and retire in haste, 

Too soon to seek again the watery waste : 

Yet they repine not — so that Conrad guides, 

And who dare question aught when he decides ? " — Byron. 



EXERCISE LVI. 

Distinguish between gerunds and infinitives in the follow- 
ing :— 

(a) " To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 

To throw a perfume on the violet, 

To smooth the ice, or add another hue 

Unto the rainbow, or with taper light 

To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, 

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess." — Shakespeare. 

(b) " To make mankind, in conscious virtue bold, 

Live o'er each scene, and be what they behold : 
For this the tragic muse first trod the stage, 
Commanding tears to stream through every age." — Pope. 

(c) <c Good-night, good-night ! parting is such sweet sorrow, 

That I shall say good-night till it be morrow." — Shakespeare. 

(d) " In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed, 

To make some good, but others to exceed." — Id. 

(•) " Giving is better than receiving." 



EXERCISES. 2lii 



EXERCISE LVII. 

Explain all the adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions in 
the following : — 

(a) ' ' Bunyan's famed Pilgrim rests that shelf upon : 

A genius rare but rude was honest John." — Crabbe. 

(&) "A second man I honour, and still more highly : him who is 
seen toiling for the spiritually indispensable ; not daily bread, but the 
bread of life." — Carlyle. 

(c) " This only grant me, that my means may lie 

Too low for envy, for contempt too high." — Cowley. 

(d) "A man that looks on glass, 

On it may stay his eye ; 
Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass, 

And then the heavens espy." — O. Herbert. 

(e) " All precious things, discovered late, 

To those that seek them issue forth ; 
For Love in sequel works with Fate." — Tennyson. 



ANALYSIS (p. 86). 

EXERCISE I. 

1. What is a sentence? 2. Of what two parts must it consist? 
3. What can form a subject? 4. Define a predicate. 5. What is 
necessary for the completion of some predicates ? 6. Why are these 
completions called objects ? 

EXERCISE H. 

Arrange in columns the subjects in the following, and say 
of what each consists : — 

(a) The potato is wholesome, (b) Eat it. (c) "Hush !" said the 
mother, (d) " Hurrah ! " rang from the ranks, (e) The lazy take 
most pains. (/) Thinking leads to action, {g) To learn meagrely 
means to beg eagerly. (h) Who loves not liberty ? (i) Amassing 
wealth oft ruins health, {k) "Bravo!" shouted the audience. (I) 
Laughing is contagious. 

EXERCISE III. 
Supply subjects, and so make sentences of the following : — 

(a) shall clothe a man with rags, (b) catch mice, (c) 

is a good dog. (d) tips the little hills with gold, (e) 

discovered America. (/) was killed by Brutus. (g) 

deserves play, (h) does not love his home ? (i) makes 

a glad father, (k) fell great oaks. 

O 



226 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE IV. 

Select the predicates in the following, and say of what each 
consists : — 

1. A cheery old soul lives here. 2. It rains. 3. A live dog is 
better than a dead lion. 4. I am not the king. 5. The idle pro- 
crastinate. 6. The dead alone are happy. 7. We are all here. 8. 
Charity beareth all things. 9. Heroes die once. 10. No one loves a 
coward. 

EXERCISE V. 

Supply predicates to the following subjects : — 

1. Short reckonings . 2. Boys . 3. A man . 4. 

Gold . 5. Diamonds . 6. A stitch in time . 7. 

David . 8. Lazy workmen . 9. Puss in boots . 10. 

Truth . 11. Beauty . 12. To be idle . 

EXERCISE VI. 

Select the objects in the following, and say of what each 
consists : — 

(a) We loved him dearly. (b) The preacher cries "Prepare!'' 
(c) Ruskin adores the beautiful, (d) Cats love to lie basking, (e) 
Each man plucked a rose. (/) Who does not love singing? (g) 
Friends dislike saying good-bye ! (k) Him they found in great 
distress, (i) He destroyed all. (Jc) She left none behind. (I) One 
sailor saved the other, (m) One good turn deserves another. 

EXERCISE VII. 

Select the objects, distinguishing between direct and in- 
direct : — 

1. Give the knave a groat. 2. Thrice he offered him the crown. 
3. He handed his daughter down-stairs. 4. They handed the visitors 
programmes. 5. The weather promises the anglers fine sport. 6. The 
boatswain taught the midshipman swimming. 7. Grant us a holiday. 
8. The fox paid the crow great attention. 9. Thomas posted his uncle 
a letter. 10. The sailor-boys often bring their friends curiosities. 
11. Play the children a tune. 

EXERCISE VIII. 

Supply objects to the following : — 

1. Waste brings . 2. Perseverance merits . 3. She 

taught the little a new . 4. The postman brought 

a . 5. Few men enjoy . 6. He gave the poor — a 

new . 7- The Queen prorogued . 



EXERCISES. 



227 



FORMS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 
SCHEME I. 



Subject. 


Predicate. 


Object. 


The sun 


shines. 




The soldiers 


were brave. 




A good son 


obeys 


his parents. 


Ripe corn-fields 


always rejoice 


the farmer's heart. 


The child 


appears ill. 





SCHEME II. 



Subject. 


Enlargement. 


Predicate. 


Extension. 


Object. 


Enlargement. 


Thompson 


the carpenter 


mended 


very soon 


the gate 


broken. 


The company 


of huntsmen 


had taken 


early next 
morning 


departure 


their. 


The princes 


of Europe 


have found 


recently 


a plan 


better. 


Parmenio 


the Grecian 


had done 


once 


something 


pleasing to 
the multi- 
tude. 



SCHEME III. 



1. Maud Miiller 

2. on a summer's day, 

3. Raked 

4. the meadow 

5. sweet with hay. 

1. But 

2. knowledge 

3. to their eyes 

4. her ample 

5. page, 

6. Rich with the spoils of time 

7. did unroll 

8. ne'er. 



Subject. 

Extension of predicate (3). 

Predicate. 

Object. 

Enlargement of object (4). 

{connective word). 

Subject. 

Extension of predicate (7). 

Enlargement of object (5). 

Object. 

Enlargement of object (5). 

Predicate. 

Extension of predicate (7). 



228 



EXEKCISES. 



SCHEME IV. 

Analyse : — 

" Those who are conversant with books well know how often they 
mislead us, when we have not a living monitor at hand to assist us in 
comparing theory with practice." — Junius. 



A. 


1. 


Those 




Subject (6). 


r 


2. 


who 




Subject (3). 


B.\ 


3. 


are conversant with 


Predicate ( = understand). 


I 


4. 


books 




Object (3). 


A.\ 


5. 


well 




Extension of manner (6). 


6. 


know 




Predicate. 


( 


7. 


how often 




Extension of time (9). 


) 


8. 


they 




Subject (9). 


9. 


mislead 




Predicate. 


( 


10. 


us, 




Object (9). 


1 


11. 


when 




( Conjunction). 




12. 


we 




Subject (13). 




13. 


have 




Predicate. 




14. 


not 




Extension of negation (13), 


dJ 


15. 


a living 




Enlargement (16). 


| 


16. 


monitor 




Object (13). 




17. 


at hand 




Extension of place (13). 


1 


18. 


to assist us in 
theory with 


comparing 
practice. 


Enlargement (16). 



A. Principal sentence. 

B. Adjective sentence to (A) (1). 

C. Noun sentence to (A) (6). 

D. Adverbial sentence to (C) (9). 



EXERCISES. 



229 



o 


o 




© 


H 


4-> 








c3 r-j 


o 

s 


ft 


ed 
4 


9i 


0) 


X 


A 


4 




+a 






fl 


CI) 




^ 


> 


0) 
00 


4 

00 


^ d 

<p o 


Id 


IK 


a 


Ti 


s 


£ 


cd ^ 


o 


,4 


o 


go 


J3 


.* 


A 




r| 


o 


ti 






0) 

d 


* 


44 


!p 


ft a 


g 


c3 

,d 


a 








© 




a 


B 
n 


d 






^5 




Ti 


03 




_« 


£ 


d 


-t-> 


c3 


o 


0) 


O 


do 


w 


nd 


at 




01 




u 


^ 


O qd 


DO 

-1-3 

1 
1 


03 


Tl 


,d 


frt 


+= 


X 


§ 


0) 


>-, 




cc] 


s 


0) 

o 

a, 


so 


ft 


,d 


s 


DO 


,d 


o 


n 


o 


5 


o 

Si 

d 
.d 

o 


rd. 




o 


O 


-s 


0) 


DO 




o 


<U 


d 


2 


H 




1) 


d 


83 


>-l 




^2 


rr 1 


o> 


Eh 


DO 

d 

n 





03 £2 



* I I 



UJ-iJ 






C =1 








03 










0) c 












I s 














mS" 








o 








^-' v -^ 










« 








-p 










o 








p] 








G 


"Si 






s 


43 

2 


a 


"3 














'3 


13 


o 






5 








03 














• n 






93 43 




p 








^3 






•%o 


a 
.2 
a 

C3 


O 
°o« 

O 

o 
o 

a 
o 




g 


■8 

B civ-/ 


00 

03 






^3 oo C 

S 03 rj 

-, O Sy 

IT 


en 




C 








^S 






3 




c 








■43 


TJ 


4) 


O 




-« 








'1 




| 


"§ 


T3 
0) 


1 


Pi 
03 




T3 


"E 


'-3 


> 


'Sb 


s 


03 


03 


> 


3 


3 


£ 




S 


1 

^3 




03 


1 


Id 

03 

^5 


T3 
o3 


■g 


s 
















1 


!* 














so 


to 
■2 


it 














13 


a 


















u 

<l> 


■ c 
















§2 

« 3 


03 

s 




03 


03 


to 

03 


43 


1* 


5 1 


® "S 


O 


rS 


^5 


^5 


A 


^5 


02 




to 








"S 




"c3 








03 

■+3 


4» 


5 


IS 


43 


£ 


a 
o 

% 
"3 






c« 


eg 


c3 


03 


c3 






•SS 1 
|5 


If 




•IS 

o o 


•ScS 








s 


3 


3 


s 


S3 








oc 


m 


to 


o 


02 


02 










03 


03 
















o 


o 
















c 


S3 






c 








43 


^ 


03 




43 


43 




(0 


t 


O 

® 

33 

00 


« 5 


03 
00 

u 


'oi 


1 
"5 

03 
00 


43 
CO 

1 

43 




3h 


5 


Pi 


»«M 


03 <l-( 


*« 


C 


O 




S 


"3 




O 


> o 

73 


> o 

13 


1 


3 
O 


^ 




a 


ffi 


^ 


<l 


<^ 


P-i 


^ 


«j 








03 
O 

ft 


03 

03 






§ 

CD 

s 


2 «8^3 
2° 


s 

C 
OS 


« W § 
-t-> 03 'cO 

o g^ 


T3 
If 


|1 

CO N 

gts 


U 03 
43 O 

55 .a 


43 

03 
CO 

s - 


1 

.2 

03 

^2 


% 

03 


« " 2 

lss§ 




43 

s 

o 

B9 




^3 

^3 


^3 03 


2 

03 


3,8 






|-o 




03 » 


03 ^ 


1 


43° 

^3 


s ^3-Eo 




^ 


05 


d 


Q* 


N 


hi' 


<S 


b3 



230 EXEKCISES. 



EXERCISE IX. 

Analyse the following according to Scheme I. : — 

(a) Cowards fear themselves, (b) He appears earnest, (c) Swim- 
ming teaches self-reliance, (d) To labour is to pray, (e) "Beware," 
said the sentry. ( /') Make haste, {g) The bells are chiming, (h) 
George told his father the truth, (i) Stop, (k) Plumbers stop the 
leaks. {I) The pipe leaks, (m) The field yields the farmer a fortune. 
(n) Love not sleep. (o) Here we are. (p) The child brought the 
invalid a garland, {q) The captain will give the crew a warning, (r) 
Luna shows the traveller the way. (s) Phoebus loves gilding the 
corn-fields, (t) Chanticleer announces the morn, (w) Mary, call the 
cattle. 

EXERCISE X. 

Of what may enlargements consist 1 

Point out the enlargements, and say of what kind each is : — 

1. A good little girl sat under a tree. 2. Wilful waste makes 
woful want. 3. , A desire to excel actuates Smith, the foreman. 4. 
A ramble on a summer evening restores the drooping spirit. 5. Feel- 
ing sorry, he gave the poor old fellow a hearty meal. 6. William, 
the captain of the school, knowing the game, taught the new scholars 
the rules. 7. One man's meat is another man's poison. 8. Re- 
membering your duty, visit the sick. 



EXERCISE XL 
- Supply enlargements in Exercise IX. 

EXERCISE* XII. 

Select the extensions in the following, and say of what each 
consists : — 

1. Sweetly sing soft songs to me. 2. In a whisper she gave them 
the order. 3. They filled the gardens quickly and completely. 4. 
Inch by inch the spider travelled. 5. I come to bury Caesar. 6. 
Listen patiently to hear the nightingale. 7. Everything passed off 
successfully. 8. The tide came creeping up the beach. 9. The old 
man walks with two sticks. 

EXERCISE XIII. 
Supply extensions to Exercise IX. 



EXERCISES. 231 

EXERCISE XIV. 

Analyse the following sentences according to Scheme II. : — 

(a) "I will make thee beds of roses." — C. Marlowe. 

(b) "Then came the Autumne all in yellow clad." — Spenser. 

(c) " Give me my scallop-shell of quiet, 

My staff of faith to walk upon." — Raleigh. 

(d) "Thus clad and fortified, Sir Knight 

From peaceful home set forth to fight. " — Butler. 

(e) "Dear Thomas, didst thou ever pop 

Thy head into a tinman's shop ? " — M. Prior. 

(/) " One morn a Peri at the gate 

Of Eden stood, disconsolate." — T. Moore. 

(g) "The spirits of your fathers 

Shall start from every wave." — Campbell. 

(h) " The castled crag of Drachenfels 

Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine." — Byron. 

EXERCISE XV. 

Number the parts of the following sentences according to 
Scheme III., and say what each is : — 

(a) " Sometime we'll angle in the brook, 

The freckled trout to take." — M. Drayton. 

(b) " The shepherd swains shall dance and sing 

For thy delight each May morning." — C. Marlowe. 

(c) tl Read in these roses the sad story 

Of my hard fate, and your own glory." — Carew. 

(d) " Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys, 

On fools and villains ne'er descend. " — Johnson. 

(e) " The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, 

They, round the ingle, form a circle wide. " — Burns. 

EXERCISE XVI. 
Analyse the following sentences : — 

(a) " Attend, ye gentle powers of musical delight." — Alcenside. 

(b) "Through the trembling ayre 
Sweet-breathing Zephyrus did softly play." — Spenser. 

(c) " When then shall Hope and Fear their objects find ? " — Johnson. 

(d) ' ' Close by the regal chair 

Fell Thirst and Famine scowl 

A baleful smile upon their baffled guest. " — Gray. 

(e) " The Sundays of man's life, 

Threaded together on time's string, 



232 EXERCISES. 

Make bracelets to adorn the wife 

Of the eternal glorious king. " — George Herbert. 
(/) "The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, 

For want of fighting was grown rusty." — Butler, 
(g) " With beating heart to the task he went." — Scott. 
(h) " How calmly gliding through the dark-blue sky, 

The midnight moon ascends ! " — Southey. 

EXERCISE XVII. 

1. What is a compound sentence? 2. How are co-ordinate sen- 
tences sometimes contracted ? 3. Show that relative pronouns are 
sometimes used as conjunctions. 4. Analyse the following compound 
sentences according to Scheme II. : — 

(a) " Of conversation sing an ample theme, 

And drink the tea of Heliconian stream." — Chatterton. 

(b) " Come forth into the light of things, 

Let Nature be your teacher." — Wordsworth. 

(c) "He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 

He kissed their drooping leaves." — Longfellow. 

(d) " On piety, humanity is built ; 

And, on humanity, much happiness." — Young. 
(c) " On the green bank I sat and listened long." — Dry den. 
(/) " 0> y° un g Lochinvar is come out of the west, 

Through all the wide Border his steed was the best, 

And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none ; 

He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone." — Scott. 



EXERCISE XVIII. 

Expand the adjectives in the following into phrases : — 

1. A merciful man considers his beast. 

2. The mistress scolded the lazy servant. 

3. A ragged man went down the lane. 

4. The plague carried off the young ones. 

5. Numerous birds were found dead. 

6. Sailors dislike a dead calm. 



EXERCISE XIX. 

Expand the adverbs in the following into phrases : — 

1. Green seldom tries the eye. 

2. The soldiers rested there. 

3. The man answered the charge easily. 

4. HI weeds grow apace. 

5. Dead dogs never bark. 

6. Come quickly. 



EXERCISES. 233 

EXERCISE XX. 
Analyse the sentences in Exercises XVIII. and XIX. 

EXERCISE XXI. 

1. What is a complex sentence ? 2. Define a subordinate sentence. 
3. In what three ways can subordinate sentences occur ? 4. How can 
subordinate sentences be co-ordinate ? 5. Make the following simple 
sentences complex by expanding the adjective into an adjectival sen- 
tence : — 

(a) Empty vessels make the most noise. 

(6) The kitchen clock keeps time. 

(c) Small strokes fell great oaks. 

(d) A hard hand often owns a soft heart. 

(e) The relentless reaper destroyed the lovely bloom. 
(/) Is this the Thracian robber ? 

(g) A modest violet grew in a shady bed. 
(h) I said to my nearer comrade, ' ' Hush ! " 

EXERCISE XXII. 

Make subordinate sentences by the expansion of the adverb6 
in the following : — 

1. He writes legibly. 

2. The king behaved shamefully. 

3. The rich deride the poor very seldom. 

4. Men often think themselves immortal. 

5. Demosthenes gradually became free of speech. 

6. Stephenson overcame difficulties bravely. 

EXERCISE XXIII. 

Change the subjects or objects into sentences : — 

1. It is good for us to be here. 

2. He soon learnt to read. 

3. To love one's child is natural. 

4. Carelessness brings its punishment. 

5. Being deserving should precede success. 

6. Reigning in peace is more glorious than dying in war. 

7. Borrowing means sorrowing. 

8. Lending is not always befriending. 

EXERCISE XXIV. 

Analyse the following sentences according to Scheme IV. : — 
(a) " The harp that once through Tara's halls 
The soul of music shed, 
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
As if that soul were fled." — Moore* 



234 EXERCISES. 

(&) " The autumn winds rushing 

Waft the leaves that are searest, 
But our flower was in flushing 

When blighting was nearest." — Scott. 

(c) "Her beads while she numbered, the baby still slumbered, 
And smiled in her face, while she bended her knee. 
' Oh ! blessed be that warning, my child, thy sleep adorning, 
For I know that the angels are whispering with thee.' " 

— S. Lover 



EXERCISE XXV. 

Analyse the following sentences according to Scheme V. :— 

(N.B. — This is the scheme prescribed by the Department for the scholar 
ship examination.) 

(a) " And ye that byde behiride, 
Have ye none other trust, 
As ye of clay were cast by kynd, 
So shall ye waste to dust." — Sir T. Wyatt. 

(6) " Ah ! yet, e'er I descend into the grave, 

May I a small house and large garden have ! 
And. a few friends, and many books, both true, 
Both wise, and both delightful too ! " — Cowley. 

(c) " Ring ye the bells, ye young men of the town, 
And leave your wonted labours for this day : 
This day is holy ; do you write it down, 
That ye for ever it remember may." — Drayton. 

{d) " This above all — to thine own self be true ; 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man." — Shakespeare. 



EXERCISE XXVI. 

Analyse, as in the preceding : — 

(a) ' ' Take physic, pomp ; 
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel ; 
That thou may'st shake the superflux to them, 
And show the heavens more just." — Shakespeare. 

(b) " When God with us was dwelling here, 

In little babes He took delight ; 
Such innocents as thou, my dear, 

Are ever precious in His sight."- — G. Wither. 

(c) "That man is freed from servile bands, 

Of hope to rise, or fear to fall ; 
Lord of himself, though not of lands, 

And having nothing, yet hath all." — Wotton. 



EXERCISES. 235 

(d) " ' The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er ; 
So calm are we when passions are no more ; 
For then we know how vain it was to boast 

Of feeling things too certain to be lost." — Waller, 

EXERCISE XXVII. 

Analyse, as before : — 

(a) "Let me tell the adventurous stranger, 
In our calmness lies our danger ; 
Like a river's silent running, 
Stillness shows our depth and cunning." — Durfey. 

[b) " Presently my soul grew stronger ; hesitating then no longer, 
' Sir,' said I, 'or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore ; 
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping. 
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, 
That I scarce was sure I heard you. ' " — Poe. 

(c) " ' My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,* 
The reaper said, and smiled ; 
'Dear tokens of the earth are they, 

Where He was once a child.' " — Longfellow, 



WOED-BUILDING (p. 116). 

EXERCISE I. 

1. "What is a root? 2. Distinguish between root and stem. 3. To 
what are inflexions made ? 4. Define derivative. 5. What are pre- 
fixes and suffixes ? 6. Give a general rule for their use. 7. What is a 
hybrid ? 8. Define compound as applied to words. 9. Say of each of 
the syllables of the following words whether it is a prefix, a suffix, a 
root, a derivative or an inflexion : un-law-ful, male-child-ren, dis-lik- 
ing, short-sight-ed, ink-stand, man-serv-ant. 

EXERCISE II. 

Show that the following words are compounds of two nouns : — 
Monday, v)heatfield, rainbow, homestead, keystone, Ladyday, 
Michaelmas, costermonger, steamship, sheriff, viceroy, and drake. 

EXERCISE IIL 

Of what Part of Speech is each of the words of the following oom« 
pounds ? — 

Whetstone, outlay, shepherd, soft-soap, nightmare, backbone, seap& 
qr&ct, lady, wheai&ar, fidafare, upstart, and at&w&rd. 



236 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE IV. 

In the following compound adjectives say to what Class of Word 
each part belongs : — 

Skyblue, stiffnecked, Lord- Mayor-like, overreaching, stonecold, stark- 
mad, weather-beaten, threadbare, wardrobe, hairsplitting, icebound, awe- 
stricken, and footsore. 

EXERCISE V. 

What other Parts of Speech have been used to make up the fol- 
lowing compound verbs ? — 

Outface, handcuff, clearstarch, outnumber, whitewash, ingather, out- 
bid. 

EXERCISE VI. 

Comment on each of the following adverbs : — 

Needs, aboard, afloat, well, thither, how, withal, albeit, seldom, rather, 
whilst, whence. 

EXERCISE VII. 

Show the force of each of the prefixes in the following words : — 
Unloose, unthankful, forehead, bewail, withdrew, misrepresent, begrime, 
wanhope, gainsay, behoof, forlorn, benighted, atone. 

EXERCISE VIII. 

Justify the use of the prefixes in the following by the meaning of 
each word : — 

Engrave, offcast, overdone, inmost, overland, underpay, outcome, 
thoroughfare, embalm, overstep, welfare. 

EXERCISE IX. 

Name the prefixes in the following, showing, where necessary, the 
assimilation : — 

Allure, acclaim, abstract, absolve, assume, affront, aspire, attract, 
arrest, aggravate, address, pardon. 

EXERCISE X. 

Show the force of the prefixes in — biped, ambient, circumnavigate, 
anticipate, coeval, desuetude, cispontine, transit, countenance, country* 
dance, corrode, desiccate, emigrate, extramural. 

EXERCISE XI. 

Account for the variations from the original prefix in each of the 
following : — 

Differ, irregular, impending, illiberal, ignoble, embrace, occur, sedition. 



EXERCISES. 237 



EXERCISE XII. 

Show the value of the prefixes in the following : — 

Interlude, nonpareil, malefactor, international, intramural, penumbra, 
remit, occasion, permeate, oblige, post-obit, predicate, retrovert, preterite, 
secure, prevent. 

EXERCISE XIII. 

Explain the prefixes, noting the cases of assimilation : — 
Vicar, suffer, surfeit, viscount, traduce, trespass, succeed, unified, sub- 
trahend, segregate, succumb, ultramarine, superhuman, suffix, surface. 



EXERCISE XIV. 

Give instances of in becoming il, ir, im, ig ; and of ob becoming oc, 
of, o, op. State a general rule for such changes. 

EXERCISE XV. 

Select the prefixes, and justify the use of each : — 

Epidemic, endemic, autonomy, eclectic, dyspepsia, archiepiscopal, 
diatonic, cataclysm, apostasy, antipathy, anagram, catastrophe, eccentric, 
perimeter. 

EXERCISE XVI. 

Show the value of the prefixes in — monologue, Pantheon, syllable, 
metathesis, periosteum, hyposulphite, programme, hyperbole, hemiplegia, 
euphony, synthesis, Polynesia, monarchy. 

EXERCISE XVII. 

Give the root and the suffix in each of the following : — 
Fodder, trickster, thrift, baxter, penmanship, hammock, loveliness, 
straddle, sapling, chipping s, sisterhood, carter, starling, collier, sawyer. 

EXERCISE XVIII. 

Explain fully the suffixes in the following : — 

Mitten, earldom, stealth, breadth, handicraft, rimecraft, drunkard, 
laddie, hardship, haft, spindle, shuttle, brazier, whiting, hilt, handle. 

EXERCISE XIX. 

Show the effect of the suffix, by giving the meanings of the follow- 
ing words : — 

Frolicsome, knotty, drowned, clayey, woollen, leeward, awkward, 
scornful, shamefaced, saintlike, knavish, friendly, Spanish, bootless, 
sweetish, scuttled, glad, left. 



238 EXERCISES. 



EXERCISE XX. 

In the following adverbs show the force of the suffixes, noting 
hybrids in passing : — 

Alivays, straightway, candidly, duly, once, mysteriously, nowise, 
sulkily, stealthily, sidelong, seldom, peculiarly. 

EXERCISE XXL 

Show the effect of the suffix in each of the following verbs : — 
Stalk, snivel, falter, strengthen, flush, twitter, dribble, trundle, gush, 
glister, blush, draggle. 

EXERCISE XXII. 

In the following nouns show the value of each suffix : — 

Actor, testament, brigandage, librarian, consonant, guttural, resident, 

radiance, patrimony, tension, lapidary, graduate, conduct, presbyter, 

reticule. 

EXERCISE XXIII. 

Explain each of the component parts of the following hybrids : — 
Colour, frailty, bigamy, atonement, realize, bondage, starvation, 
foreigner, bilingualism, unjustly, grandfather, martyrdom, ungrateful, 
handkerchief, unconceitedly, falsehood, demigod, witticism, unacted, art- 
ful, Cockneyism, journalist, blackguardism, cerecloth,- druggist, surname. 

EXERCISE XXIV. 

Give the meanings of the suffixes in Exercise XXIII. 

EXERCISE XXV. 

1. What are the following pairs of words called? Potion and 
poison; cadence and chance. 2. Give the corresponding word to each 
of the following : benison, chattels, malediction, channel, hotel, redemp- 
tion. 3. Give the meanings of the suffixes. 

EXERCISE XXVI. 

Give the meaning of each of the suffixes in the following ad- 
jectives : — 

Arabesque, ratable, torrid, arenaceous, mundane, sequent, peninsular, 
riparian, aromatic, ductile, pedantic, submissive, feminine, virulent, 
jocose, valedictory, moribund, umbragecus. 

EXERCISE XXVII. 

1 , Arrange the following words and their doublets in two columns, 
distinguishing the French from the Latin. 2. Explain the suffixes in 
the words and the doublets you supply. Loyal, regcd, fragile, caitiff, 
second, particle, sample, specks. 



EXERCISER 239 



EXERCISE XXVIII. 



In the following verbs explain the suffixes : — 

Amplify, expedite, estimate, coalesce, deify, publish, pacify, alienate, 
embellish, permeate, extinguish. 

EXERCISE XXIX. 

Show the force of the suffixes in the following, distinguishing be- 
tween the Greek and hybrid words : — 

Axiomatic, apostate, philanthropy, witticism, theorist, nepotism, paral- 
ysis, deism, pessimist, panorama, minimise. 

EXERCISE XXX. 

Show the derivation of the following, carefully noting hybrids : — 
Broth, bough, gnaw, father, bier, brick, know, batch, beetle, kitten, 

quickset, beadle, chilblain, net, jetsam, nickname, borrow, blush, kind, 

mead, bakery, club, bugle, draught, window, eyelet. 



EXERCISE XXXI. 

Derive the following words : — 

Nightingale, orchard, wright, wrong, grove, whole, trade, stock, taught, 
twig, till, garlic, lady, lodestar, wake, might, nozzle, stile, scoop, waddle, 
lair, pickerel, scuttle, slog, weft, wanton, reap, scrape, sleeve. 



EXERCISE XXXII. 

Select from the following Latin words those coming through the 
French, and give their derivation : — 

Inert, claret, ditto, arcade, precinct, indent, peal, ancestor, Decem- 
ber, courage, city, meridian, cordial, clause, deign, donor, April, excuse, 
occur, course, damsel, domineer, chapter, alto. 



EXERCISE XXXIII. 

From the following select those words coming direct from the Latin, 
and give their derivation : — 

Exculpate, alimony, reception, altercation, deception, chant, agile, mis- 
creant, agrarian, excuse, equinox, brief, cruise, bissextile, corpse, clam- 
our, eager, auction. 

EXERCISE XXXIV. 

From the following list select the words coming indirectly from the 
Latin, and give their derivation : — 

Fount, domiciliary, colloquy, mirage, friar, relict, infringe, liable, 



240 EXERCISES. 

force,, religion, affluent, leaven, flexible, renegade, collapse, dismount^ 
feat, profile, conjoint, annex, exhibit, facet, grateful, memoir. 



EXERCISE XXXV. 

Select the words of direct Latin origin : — 

Dormouse, fusible, duke, profound, ludicrous, genteel, manse, redeem, 
gesture, absolute, aberration, progress, scent, probity, poignant, repair, 
quarry ', vow, tense, terrible, urbane, insidious, sexton, sacrilege, plausible. 



EXERCISE XXXVI. 

Give the derivation of each of the following words : — 
Date, coxmetic, surgeon, nausea, dogma, economy, dynamite, catarrh, 
hematite, idiot, melancholy, hieroglyphic. 



EXERCISE XXXVII. 

Give two roots for each of the following words : — 
Hypocrite, aerolite, demagogue, onomatopoetic, lithotomy, tetrarch, 
kaleidoscope, hydrophobia, heliotrope, catastrophe, evangelist. 



EXERCISE XXXVIII. 

State the origin of the following words : — 

Lizard Point, panic, tantalise, petrel, chimera, cravat, cicerone, matr- 
tinet, dunce, euphuistic, saturnine, hermetically. 



EXERCISE XXXIX. 

Trace the following words to their origin : — 

Peach, cherry, damson, rhubarb, pheasant, dollar, florin, guinea, 
solecism, pistol, laconic, Utopian, lumber. 



EXERCISE XL. 

Show the origin of the following words : — 

Babble, intoxicate, gadfly, belfry, liquorice, bustard, luncheon, easel, 
buttery, custard, sheaf, carouse, stirrup, causeway, treacle, crayfish, 
verdigris. 

EXERCISE XLI. 

Compare the original with the modern meaning of the following 
words : — 

Sycophant, allow, restive, gazette, amuse, handsome, awkward, knave, 
blackguard, mere, brat, painful, censure, cunning, preposterous, silly, 
vivacity. 



EXERCISES. 241 



PLAN FOR PARSING. 
When parsing a word observe the following rules : — 

(i) Use no abbreviation that is vague ; avoid the possibility of being 
misunderstood. 

(ii) When any other word is quoted, underline it, or use marks of 
quotation. 

(iii) Use the following terms, when applicable, and in the order as 
arranged : 

NOUNS. — KIND. Proper; Common; Collective; Abstract. 

GENDER. Masculine; Feminine; Common; Neuter. 

NUMBER. Singular; Plural. 

PERSON. First; Second; Third. 

CASE. Nominative, subject of the verb ; in appo- 
sition with ; of address (Vocative) ; 

absolute ; after copulative verb . 

Possessive, limiting the noun . 

Objective, governed directly by the transitive, 
factitive, causative, prepositional, or cognate 

verb, or the participle ; or indirectly 

by the verb or participle (Dative) ; or 

adverbial object ; or governed by the pre- 
position ; or by the governing Adjec- 
tive ; or in apposition with . 

PRONOUNS. — KIND. Personal; Relative, agreeing with its 
antecedent in gender, person, and number ; 
Interrogative ; Indefinite ; Reciprocal ; 
Emphatic; Reflexive; 

GENDER, 

NUMBER, v 

PERSON, 

CASE. 



242 EXERCISES. 

ADJECTIVES. — KIND. Qualitative, positive, comparative, or 

superlative degree, going with the noun ; 

Quantitative, indefinite or definite, nu- 
meral, cardinal, or ordinal, or distributive, 

limiting the noun ; Demonstrative, 

pointing out the noun . 



VERBS. — CLASS. Transitive (active or passive Voice); 
Intransitive ; 
Auxiliary, of voice, mood, tense, or emphasis. 

CONJUGATION. Strong or Weak. 

MOOD. Indicative, assertive or interrogative ; 

Imperative ; Subjunctive ; Infinitive (nomina- 
tive, objective, or gerundial). 

TENSE. Present ; Past ; Future. Perfect (complete), 
imperfect (incomplete), indefinite, continuous 
(progressive). 

PERSON, 
NUMBER. 

(PARTICIPLE) (Active, qualifying the noun or pronour 

, and governing the noun or pronour 

; or Passive). 



J- Agreeing with the subject . 



ADVERBS.— Of TIME, PLACE, MANNER, ASSERTION, or REA 

SONING, modifying the verb ; of DEGREE 

modifying the adverb or adjective . 

DEGREE of comparison (Pos. ; Comp. ; Sup.) 



PREPOSITIONS.— SIMPLE or COMPOUND, governing the noun 
or pronoun . 



CONJUNCTIONS— CO-ORDINATE 
SUBORDINATE. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 243 



SELECTIONS FROM QUESTIONS SET AT THE 

PUPIL-TEACHER AND SCHOLARSHIP 

EXAMINATIONS IN ENGLAND. 



The figures following some of the Questions refer to the page in Meiklejohn's Grammar. 



PUPIL-TEACHERS.— FIEST YEAR. 

Requirements. — Parsing and analysis of simple sentences, with 
knowledge of the ordinary terminations of English words. Writing 
from memory the substance of a passage of simple prose, read with 
ordinary quickness. 

SET A. 

1. " Toll for the brave ! 

Brave Kempenfelt is gone. 
His last sea-fight is fought ; 
His work of glory done." 

Analyse these lines, and parse the words in italics. 

2. Explain the use of the adjective brave in the first line, and give 
similar instances. (10.) 

3. Write out the past indefinite tense of each of the verbs, toll, go, 
do, fight. (46.) 

SET B. 

1. " Cowards die many times before their death, 

The valiant only taste of death but once." — Shakespeare. 

Analyse these lines, and parse them. 

2. Point out any English terminations in them ; and give instances 
Df words with a similar ending. (117.) 

3. What is meant by mood, and how many moods are there ? Write 
kit the imperative mood of the verb to die. (38.) 



SET C. 

1. Parse and analyse the following : — 

" And now a gallant tomb they raise, 
With costly sculptures decked ; 
And marbles storied with his praise 
Poor Gelert's bones protect," 



244 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

2. Distinguish between an inflexion and a suffix, illustrating your an- 
swer from the lines above. (100.) 

3. Explain the apostrophe in Gelert's. Write down the possessive 
case plural number of woman, ox, mouse, child, and son-in-law. (20.) 

4. When a singular noun ends in an s sound, how is the possessive 
sign affected ? Give examples. (20.) 



SET D. 

1. " Here Ouse, slow winding through a level plain 

Of spacious meads, with cattle sprinkled o'er. 
Conducts the eye along his sinuous course 
Delighted. " — Cowper. 

Analyse the above, parsing the words in italics. 

2. Mention verbs ending in le, like sprinkle. (118.) 

3. Give examples of adjectives ending in ish and en, and explain the 
significance of those terminations. (116.) 



SET E. 

1. " Having reached the house, 

I found its rescued, inmate safely lodged. 
And in serene possession of himself 
Beside a fire." 

Analyse these lines, and parse the words printed in italics. 

2. What are the different meanings of the English termination en 
when added to a noun, an adjective, and a verb? Give instances. 
(116-118.) 

3. How would you parse a noun fully ? Explain each term you use. 
11.) 

SET F. 

1. "But now 
To the wide world's astonishment, appeared 
A glorious opening, the unlooked-for dawn 
That promised everlasting joy to France. " 

Analyse these lines, and parse the words printed in italics. 

2. State any English terminations of adjectives which mean belonging 
to, likeness, direction, and negation, and give instances of words in 
which they occur. (116-118.) 

3. What is meant by regular, irregular, auxiliary, defective, tran- 
sitive, and intransitive verbs ? Give examples. 



SET G. 
1. Parse this sentence — 

" He needs strong arms who swims against the tide. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 245 

2. Say how many sentences there are in this verse, and what is the 
subject and predicate of each — 

1 ' Sweet bird ! thy bower is ever green, 
Thy sky is ever clear ; 
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, 
No winter in thy year." 

3. Explain what is meant by a participle, and give examples. (40 ) 

4. Show the meaning of the final syllable in each of the following 
words, and give other examples of words of the same formation : 
oxen, golden, darken, bounden, duckling, streamlet, readable, singer, 
peaceful, faithless. (116-118.) 

SET H. 

"I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or of anything out 
of her, except what might drive on shore from her wreck, as indeed 
divers pieces of her afterwards did ; but those things were of small use 
to me." 

1. Parse the words in italics. 

2. Define the adverb and the preposition, and illustrate the distinc- 
tion by examples from the above sentence. 

3. Give the plural forms of the following pronouns : mine, me, thine, 
she, him, my, herself whatever. 



SET I. 

1. " Bounded the fiery steed in air, 

The rider sat erect and fair, 

Then like a bolt from steel cross-bow 

Forth launched, along the plain they go." 

Analyse this passage, and parse the words in italics. 

2. What is case ? How do you know the nominative, possessive, 
and objective cases ? (19.) 

3. Point out the affixes, with their meaning, in the following 
words : scholar, goodness, friendship, maiden, speaker, lambkin. 
(116-118.) 

SET K. 

1. Give instances (1) of nouns which have no singular, and (2) of 
nouns which have no plural. 

2. When is the plural suffix s pronounced like z ? (16.) 

3. Parse as fully as you can the words in italics in the following 
lines : — 

" See the dew-drops how they kiss 
Every little flower that is, 
Hanging on their velvet heads 
Like a string of crystal beads." 

4. Analyse the above. 



246 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 



SET L. 



1. Which consonants are called flats, and which are called sharps? 
(6.) 

2. State the distinction between strong and weak verbs ; and give the 
past tense and passive participles of the following verbs : to creep, 
peep, teach, reach, flay, 'pay, slay, read, lead, tread. (43-45. ) 

3. Give the comparative and superlative of the adjectives : evil, 
little, fore, old, sad, bad, happy, gay. (33.) 

4. Parse the following : — 

" Neither a borrower nor a lender be, 
For loan oft loses both itself and friend." 



PUPIL-TEACHERS.— SECOND YEAR 

Requirements. — Parsing and analysis of sentences, with knowledge 
of the chief Latin prefixes and terminations. Paraphrase of a short 
passage of poetry. 

SET A. 

1. ' ' She, good cateress, 
Means her provision only to the good, 
That live according to her sober laws, 

And holy dictate of spare temperance." — Comus. 

Analyse the above, parsing the words in italics. 

2. What Latin prefixes and terminations do you see in it ? (119- 
121.) 

3. Paraphrase the passage. (" She " refers to " Nature. ") (176.) 

4. How is the prefix in (meaning not) modified in composition ? Givr 
instances. (108.) 

SET B. 

<{ In short, you will find that in the higher and better class of work* 
of fiction and imagination, you possess all you require to strike your 
grappling-irons into the souls of the people, and to chain them willing 
followers to the car of civilisation." 

1. Analyse the above passage. 

2. Parse the words in italics. 

3. Show wherein prepositions and conjunctions are like and wherein 
they are unlike. (58.) 

4. When is a noun said to be in the nominative, possessive, and ob- 
jective cases respectively ? (19.) 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 247 



SET C. 



1. Analyse the following from the words "then burst his mighty 
heart," and parse the words in italics : — 

" For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, 
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, 
Quite vanquished him : then burst his mighty hearty 
And in his mantle muffling up his face, 
Even at the base of Pompey's statua, 
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.'' — Julius Cmsar. 

2. Point out and explain the force of the adjective suffixes in the 
following : — 

"At which time would I, being but a moonish youth, grieve, be 
effeminate, changeable, proud, fantastical, apish, shallow, inconstant, 
full of tears, full of smiles." — Shakespeare. (123.) 

3. Paraphrase the following : — 

"Music the fiercest grief can charm, 
And fate's severest rage disarm ; 
Music can soften pain to ease, 
And make despair and madness please ; 
Our joys below it can improve, 
And antedate the bliss above." (176.) 



SET D. 

1 "Far up the lengthening lake were spied 

Four darkening specks upon the tide, 
That, slow enlarging on the view, 
Four manned and masted barges grew, 
And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 
Steered full upon the opening isle." 

Turn this passage into prose. (176.) 

2. Analyse the above passage, and parse the words in italics. 

3. What is the meaning of ad, ex, and ob ? Give words in which 
they occur. How and when are they sometimes changed in composi- 
tion? (107, 108.) 



SET E. 

1. " Immortal glories in my mind revive, 

And in my soul a thousand passions strive, 
When Rome's exalted beauties I descry, 
Magnificent in piles of ruin lie." — Addison. 
Analyse the above, parsing the words in italics. 

2. Point out any Latin prefixes in the above, and give their mean- 
ings ; and instance other words in which they occur. (107, 108.) 



248 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

3. Paraphrase the following : — 

" He that holds fast the golden mean, 
And lives contentedly between 

The little and the great, 
Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, 
Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, 

Embittering all his state. " (176.) 



SET F. 

" They do not err 
Who say that when the poet dies 
Mute nature moans her worshipper, 
And celebrates his obsequies ; 
Who say tall cliff and cavern lone 
For the departed Bard make moan. " 

Paraphrase this passage, analyse the subordinate sentences, and parse 
the words printed in italics. (176.) 

2. What Latin prefixes occur in the above passage ? Mention some 
words in which these prefixes undergo a modification. (107, 108.) 

3. State the various kinds of subordinate sentences. Why are they 
so called ? and how are they distinguished ? (94. ) 



SET G. 

1. " Hadst thou but lived, though stripped of power, 

A watchman on the lonely tower, 

Thy thrilling trump had roused the land, 

When fraud or danger were at hand." 

Paraphrase this passage, analyse it, and parse the words printed in 
italics. (176.) 

2. Give the meanings of the following Latin prefixes, and illustrate 
each by two English words : ad, ante, contra, extra, retro, sub, ultra. 
(107, 108.) 

3. State, with examples, some of the Latin terminations in English 
abstract nouns. (119.) 



SET H. 

i. " The service done, the mourners stood apart ; he called to mind 
how he had seen her sitting on that very spot, and how her book had 
fallen on her lap as she was gazing with a pensive face upon the sky. 
Another told how he had wondered that one so delicate as she should be 
so bold ; how she had never feared to enter the church alone at night.'' 

(a) Point out the subordinate conjunctions in the above. State 
to which class of subordinate conjunctions each belongs, and show why 
such conjunctions are called subordinate. (60.) 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 249 

(b) Parse the words in italics. 

2. How can you tell when the following are used as adverbs, and 
when as conjunctions? — after, before, since. Give examples of them 
in both uses. (60.) 

SET I. 

1. " The pass was left ; for then they wind 

Along a wide and level green, 

Where neither tree nor tuft was seen." — Scott. 

(a) Show from the above passage that conjunctions may join both 
principal to principal sentences and subordinate to principal sentences. 
(94.) 

(6) Parse the participles in the above, and show how participles dif- 
fer from verbs. (40.) 

2. In analysis an enlargement is said always to be an adjective, or 
to partake of the nature of an adjective. This being so, what parts of 
a sentence are (properly speaking) capable of enlargement ? Give ex- 
amples of such enlargements. (94.) 



SET K. 

1. "It is the first mild day of March, 

Each minute sweeter than before ; 

The redbreast sings from the tall larch 

That stands beside our door. 

My sister ! ('tis a wish of mine) 

Now that our morning meal is done, 

Make haste, your morning tasks resign, 

Come forth, and feel the sun. " — Wordsworth. 

(a) How many sentences are there in the above ? Assign each to 
the class to which it belongs. 

(b) Parse the words in italics. 

2. What are corresponding conjunctions ? Give a list of them. 
(60.) 

SET L. 

1. "Before a novice can commence the study of any science, he 
must make himself acquainted with the terms employed in that science. " 

(a) Point out the principal and the adverbial sentence in the above, 
and show why each is so called. (95. ) 

(b) Mention other kinds of subordinate sentences besides adverbial, 
and give an example of each. (94.) 

(c) Point out, and carefully parse, the participles and auxiliary 
verbs in the above. 

2. What are causal conjunctions ? Why are they so called ? Give 
examples. (60. ) 



250 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 



PUPIL-TEACHERS.— THIRD YEAR. 

Requirements. — Parsing, analysis, and paraphrasing of complex sen- 
tences. Prefixes and affixes generally. Knowledge of the simple tests 
by which English words may be distinguished from those of foreign 
origin. 

SET A. 

1. Analyse the following, parsing the words in italics : — 

" Oh, how it yearned my heart, when I beheld, 
In London streets that coronation day, 
When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary ! 
That horse, that thou so often hast bestrid, 
That horse, that I so carefully have dressed ! " — Richard II. 

2. What are impersonal verbs ? Give examples. 

3. What is the origin and force of the particle be in beheld, bestrid ? 
Give instances of it as a prefix to nouns. (104.) 

4. Most monosyllabic words are of English origin. Point out any 
exception to this rule in the above. (132.) 



SET B. 

1. "The whole cavalcade paused simultaneously when Jerusalem 
appeared in view ; the greater number fell upon their knees, and laid 
their foreheads in tne dust, whilst a profound silence, more impressive 
than the loudest exclamations, prevailed over all ; even the Moslems 
gazed reverently on what was to them also a holy city, and recalled to 
mind the pathetic appeal of their forefather, ' Hast thou not a bless- 
ing for me, also, my father ? s " 

Paraphrase this passage. (177.) 

2. Point out the subordinate sentences in it, analyse the two last, 
and also parse the last of them. (89.) 

3. Point out also and explain the meaning of any Latin or English 
prefixes in this passage. (104-110.) 



SET C. 

1. Morning fair 

Came forth, with pilgrim steps in amice gray, 
Who with her radiant finger stilVd the roar 
Of thunder, chased the clouds, and laid the winds 
And grisly spectres which the fiend had raised." — Milton. 

Analyse the foregoing, parsing the words in italics. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 251 

2. Paraphrase the passage. (A mice means a pilgrim's robe.) (177.) 

3. Point out the prefix in each of the following words : spend, 
enormous, symmetry, accede, pellucid, ignoble, coagulate, suppress, com- 
bustion. (104-112.) 



SET D. 

1. "These feelings I shared in common with the humblest pilgrim 
that was kneeling there, and, in some respects, he had even the advan- 
tage of me ; he had made infinitely greater sacrifices than I had done, 
and undergone far heavier toils, to reach that bourne. Undistracted 
by mere temporal associations, he- only saw the sacred spot wherein the 
Prophets preached, and David sung, and Christ had died." 

Paraphrase this passage. (177.) 

2. Point out the subordinate sentences in it, analyse the two first, 
and parse the second of them. (90.) 

3. What are the means of readily distinguishing between words of 
English and of Latin origin? Take your examples from the above 
passage. (.221.) 



SET E. 

1. " An inadvertent step may crush the snail 

That crawls at evening in the public path ; 
But he that has humanity, forewarned, 
Will tread aside and let the reptile live!* 

Analyse the above, parsing the words in italics. 

2. Explain how the word aside is formed, and give instances of 
adverbs of similar formation. (104.) 

3. Point out a Latin prefix and a Latin suffix in the above. (107- 
110.) 

4. Correct, where needful, the following sentences : — 

(a) It is I that he fears. 

(b) He is a boy of nine years old. 

(c) Who can this letter be from ? 

(d) I feel coldly this morning. 



SET F 

1. If enlargements are words and phrases attached to the nouns in a 
sentence, and extensions words or phrases attached to the verbs or 
predicates, assign all the enlargements and extensions which occur in 
the following to their proper classes : — 

(a) " The harp, his sole remaining joy, 
Was carried by an orphan boy." 



252 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

(6) " Ocean and earth, the solid frame of earth, 
And ocean's liquid mass, in gladness lay- 
Beneath him." 

(c) "The sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee." 

2. Parse any participles, or verbs in the infinitive mood, which occur 
in the following, and give the meaning of the passage in simple words 
of your own : — 

" Blest be the art that can immortalise, 
The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim 
To quench it." 

3. With what Latin prepositions are the words support, suffice, effect, 
destroy, compounded ? Give the meaning of the preposition in each 
case. (107-110.) 



SET G. 

1. Words or phrases attached to the nouns of a sentence are called 
enlargements ; attached to the verbs they are called extensions. Give 
two examples of each. (89.) 

2. " Dost thou so hunger for my empty chair, 

That thou wilt needs invest thee with mine honours ? 
Stay but a little ; for my cloud of dignity- 
Is held from falling with so weak a wind, 
That it will quickly drop." — Shakespeare: Henry IV. 

(a) Analyse the last three lines. 

(b) Parse the words in italics. 

(c) Give the meaning of the above passage in your own words, ex- 
plaining, so far as you can, the figures and metaphors. 

3. What are the Latin prepositions that mean out of, from, under ? 
Give examples of words in which they occur, pointing out the force of 
the preposition in each case. (107.) 



SET H. 

1. What is the derivation of the word transitive, and how is the 
derivation connected with the use of the words transitive, intransitive, 
in grammar ? 

2. "When I came to my castle I fled into it like one pursued; 
whether I went over by the ladder or went in at the hole which I 
called a door, I cannot remember ; no, nor could I remember the next 
morning ; for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with 
more terror of mind than I to this retreat. " — Defoe. 

(a) Analyse the above passage from "When I came" to "next 
morning." (94.) 

(6) Parse the words in italics. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 253 



SET I. 



1. " And waiting to be treated like a wolf, 

Because I knew my crimes were known, I found, 

Instead of scornful pity, such a grace 

Of tenderest courtesy, that I began 

To glance behind me at my former life, 

And find that it had been the wolf's indeed." — Tennyson. 

(a) Point out the noun sentences in the above, and analyse them. 
(95.) 

{b) Point out any enlargement of the subject or extension of the 
predicate that you notice in the above. (93.) 

(c) Parse all the participles and verbs in the infinitive mood that 
occur in the above. 

2. Of what Latin prepositions are the following words compounded : 
Amputate, efface, circuit, collision, preface, succeed, suffuse, sojourn, 
tradition." (107-110.) 

SET K. 

1. * " It is great sin to swear unto a sin, 

But greater sin to keep a sinful oath. 
Who can be bound by any solemn vow 
To do a murderous deed, to rob a man, 
To reave the orphan of his patrimony 
And have no other reason for this wrong 
But that he was bound by a solemn oath ? " 

— King Henry VI. 

(a) Parse all the words in the last line. 

(b) Analyse the two sentences contained in the last two lines, 
supplying any words that are required to make the analysis complete. 

N.B. — Take care to point out the character of each sentence. (95.) 

(c) When is the infinitive mood used without being preceded by the 
word to ? Give examples of this from the above passage, and mention 
others that occur to you. (39.) 

2. Write the subject-matter of a lesson on either of the following : 
Mood, Tense. 

3. Give the Latin prepositions that mean under, with, across, out of. 
(107-110.) 

SET- L. 

1. "The voice of Enid rang 

Clear through the open casement of the hall, 

Singing ; and as the sweet voice of a bird 

Heard by the lander in a lonely isle 

Moves him to think what kind of bird it is 

That sings so delicately clear, and make 

Conjecture of the plumage and the form ; 

So the sweet voice of Enid moved him." — Tennyson. 



254 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

(a) Point out and analyse the noun sentence in the above passage. 
(94.) 

(b) Parse the participles and infinitive moods in the above passage. 
(39, 40.) 

(c) Explain how the word what is used in the fifth line, and give 
other uses of the same word. (27. ) 

(d) Give the meaning of the above passage in plain, simple words of 
your own. (177.) 

2. Give examples of words compounded with the Latin preposition 
in (meaning in, into). Mention some words in which the affix in has 
quite a different meaning, and state what that meaning is. (105.) 



PUPIL-TEACHERS.— FOURTH YEAR. 

Requirements. — Fuller knowledge of grammar and analysis, and of the 
common Latin roots of English words. Outline of the history of the 
language and literature. 



SET A. 

1. "Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, 

~Letfall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, 
And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn 
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups 
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, 
So let us welcome peaceful evening in. " 

Analyse the above passage, and parse the words in italics. (95. ) 

2. From what source is the word sofa derived ? Mention other 
words derived from the same source. (263.) 

3. To what dates and events would you assign the adoption and the 
discontinuance of French as the language of the Court and nobility in 
England? (226.) 

4. Name the authors of the following works : ' Paradise Lost,' 
'The Faery Queen,' 'Vanity Fair,' 'Robinson Crusoe,' 'The Task,' 
« Kenilworth,' ' The Excursion,' ' The Idylls of the King.' (369.) 



SET B. 

"And O, ye swelling hills and spacious plains ! 
Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers, 
And spires whose silent finger points to heaven ; 
Nor wanting, at wide intervals, the bulk 
Of ancient minster lifted above the cloud 
Of the dense air, which town or city breeds. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 255 

To intercept the sun's glad beams — may ne'er 
That true succession fail of English hearts, 
Who, with ancestral feeling, can perceive 
What in those holy structures ye possess 
Of ornamental interest." 

Paraphrase this passage. (177.) 

2. Point out in it the subordinate sentences, and analyse and parse 
fully the last sentence. (95.) 

3. What kinds of English words are derived from the Anglo-Saxon 
language ? State any difference in inflexion between the English and 
Anglo-Saxon languages. (202.) 



SET C. 

1. " The poet, fostering for his native land 

Such hope, entreats that servants may abound 
Of those pure altars worthy ; ministers 
Detached from pleasure, to the love of gain 
Superior, insusceptible of pride, 
And by ambitious longings undisturbed ; 
Men whose delight is where their duty leads 
Or fixes them ; whose least distinguished day 
Shines with some portion of that heavenly lustre 
Which makes the Sabbath lovely in the sight 
Of blessed angels, pitying human cares." 

Paraphrase this passage. (177.) 

2. Point out the subordinate sentences in it, and analyse and parse 
fully the noun sentence. Point out also any adjectives of Latin origin. 
(95, 109.) 

3. State the various ways by which words of Latin origin have 
been introduced into our language. (209.) 



SET D. 

1. "It is well known to the learned that the ancient laws of Attica 
rendered the exportation of figs criminal — that being supposed a 
species of fruit so excellent in Attica that the Athenians deemed it too 
delicious for the palate of any foreigners ; and in this ridiculous pro- 
hibition they were so much in earnest that informers were thence 
called sycophants among them." — Hume. 

Analyse each of the sentences in the above which begins with the 
word that. (95.) 

2. Parse each word in the following : " That being supposed a 
species of fruit so excellent." 

3. Write out a list of words compounded or derived from the Latin 
verbs, amo. duco,fero, audio. (132, 133.) 



256 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 



SET E. 

1. " *Twas now a place of punishment ; 

Whence if so loud a shriek were sent, 
As reached the upper air, 
The hearers blessed themselves and said, 
The spirits of the sinful dead 
Bemoaned their torments there. " 

Analyse this passage, and parse the words in italics. 

2. From what Latin roots are the following words derived ? library, 
locomotion, eloquence, elucidate, legitimate, lunatic, extravagant. (132- 
134.) 

3. When did the following writers live, and what are their principal 
works? Spenser, Pope, Milton, Locke, Bacon, Chaucer. (368.) 



SET F. 

1. " Learning hath his infancy, when it is but beginning and almost 
childish : then his youth, when it is luxuriant and juvenile : then his 
strength of years, when it is solid and reduced : and lastly his old age, 
when it waxeth dry and exhaust. But it is not good to look too long 
upon these turning wheels of vicissitude, lest we become giddy." — Bacon. 

Analyse this passage down to the word "exhaust," and parse the 
words in italics. (95.) 

2. Comment on the use of the pronoun his in it, and mention any 
similar use of it in another passage. (24. ) 

3. Point out any words in the above which have a Latin root. 
(132, 133.) 

4. Mention any great writers in the eighteenth century and their 
works. (378, 379.) 



SET G. 

1. " Be useful where thou livest, that they may 

Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still. 
Kindness, good parts, great places, are the way 

To compass this. Find out men's wants and will, 
And meet them there. All worldly joys go less 
To the one joy of doing kindnesses." — George Herbert, 1633. 

(a) Write out the meaning of the above in your own words. (177. J 

(b) Parse the words in italics. 

(c) Analyse the first two lines. (95.) 

(d) How is the word that used in the first line ? Give examples of 
the different ways in which the word that is employed. (60.) 

2. Mention some of the classes of words in our language which are 
generally of Latin origin. Give examples. (234.) 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 257 



SET H. 

1. Analyse the following, parsing the words in italics: — 

' ' No voice divine the storm allayed ; 
No light propitious shone ; 
When far from all effectual aid, 
We perished — each alone ; 
But / beneath a rougher sea 
And whelmed in blacker gulfs than he. " — Cowper. 

2. Point out any words in the above derived from Latin, or from 
Latin through French. (220.) 

3. In English almost any part of speech may be used as any other- 
part of speech. Illustrate this. (62.) 

4. To what period of our literature do the following writers respec- 
tively belong ? Alfred the Great, Chaucer, Spenser, Cowper. (368. ) 



SET L 

1. "I would the great world grew like thee, 

Who grewest not alone in power 
And knowledge, but from hour to hour 
In reverence and in charity." — Tennyson. 

Analyse this stanza ; and explain, if you can, its metre. (95, 178.) 

2. Give the etymology and exact meaning of as many of the follow- 
ing words as you can : fortress, fortitude, subscribe, superior, domina- 
tion, rectitude, impossible, construction, export. (132, 133.) 

3. Give an example of an "infinitive of purpose"; and also of an 
infinitive used as equivalent to a noun. (82.) 

4. Say what you know about the life and writings of Milton, Pope, 
or Dr Johnson. (368.) 



SET K. 

1. Break up the following complex sentence into simple sentences, 
beginning a new line with each simple sentence : — 

" All crimes shall cease and ancient frauds shall fail, 
Returning justice lift aloft her scale, 
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, 
And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend." 

2. Parse the verbs and participles in the above. 

3. What conjunctions should be followed by the subjunctive mood'r 
Give four examples, using a different conjunction in each. (60. ) 

4. Point out which of the following words are of Keltic, and which 
are of Saxon' origin ; and state what class of things (generally) have 
Keltic names : sheep, ship, bread, milk, basket, mop, mattock, pail. 
(206.) 



258 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 



SET L. 

1. Are Anglo-Saxon and English different languages? or what is 
their relation to one another? (206.) 

2. "The Batavian territory, conquered from the waves and defended 
against them by human art, was in extent little superior to the princi- 
pality of Wales ; but all that narrow space was a busy and populous 
hive, in which new wealth was every day created, and in which vast 
nasses of old wealth were hoarded."— Macaulay. 

(a) How many different sentences are contained in the above ? 
Assign each to its proper class. 
(h) Parse the words in italics. 

3. When should the word the be considered as an adverb ? Give 
instances. (30. ) # 



SCHOLAKSHIP 

SET A. 

( Two hours and a half allowed for this paper. ) 

"No abbreviation of less than three letters to be used in parsing or 
analysis. All candidates must do the composition, parsing, and 
analysis. 

Composition. 

Write a letter, or an essay, on one of the following subjects : — 

(a) Your favourite flowers, and the way to cultivate them. 

(b) The moral lessons of the microscope and the telescope. 

(c) The advantages and disadvantages of town life as compared with 
life in the country. 

(d) Examinations. (159.) 

Grammar. 

1. Parse the words in italics in the following passage, not omitting 
to give and explain their syntax : — 

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my own, my native land ! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 
From wandering on a foreign strand ? 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well ; 
For him no minstrel raptures swell ! 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 259 

High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth, as wish can claim, 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf, 
The wretch concentred all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung." 

2. Analyse either the first or the last half of the above passage into 
its component sentences, and show in separate columns — 

(a) The nature of the sentence. 

{b) (If dependent) its relation to the principal sentence. 

(c) Subject. (d) Its enlargements (if any). 

(e) Predicate. (/) Its extensions (if any). 

(g) Object (if any). (h) Its enlargements (if any). (95.) 

3. Explain by a paraphrase, or otherwise, the portion of the passage 
which you take for analysis. (177.) 

4. Examine and illustrate the etymology of any five of the following 
words from the above : Own, native, whose, heart, foreign, minstrel, 
raptures, titles, boundless, claim, wretch, concentred, forfeit, renown. 
(127-144.) 

5. Distinguish common, proper, and abstract nouns, — cardinal and 
ordinal numbers, — intransitive and neuter verbs, — continuative and dis- 
junctive conjunctions, — personal, possessive, reflexive, and relative 
pronouns. 

6. It is often said that English is less of an inflected language in its 
latter than in its earlier stages. Explain what is meant by this, and 
give a few instances of inflexion in English as now spoken. (61.) 

7. Show by examples how analysis helps us to parse correctly. 
(90.) 

8. At which periods, and in connection with what events, in the 
history of this island, did the most important changes take place in the 
language of the inhabitants ? Illustrate your answer. (202-238.) 



SET B. 

{Directions as in A.) 

Composition. 

Write a letter, or an essay, on one of the following subjects : — 

(a) Singing birds. 

(b) Fairy tales. 

(c) Best way of spending holidays. 

(d) Advantages of the study and knowledge of geography. (159.) 

Grammar. 

1. Parse the words in italics in the following passage, not omitting 
to give and explain their syntax : — 



260 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

" I met a traveller from an antique land, 

Who said : 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone 
Stand in the Desert. Near them, on the sand, 
Half-sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown 
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command, 
Tell that the sculptor well those passions read 
Which still survive, stamped on these lifeless things, 
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that/ed: 
And on the pedestal these words appear : 
* My name is Ozymandias, King of kings ; 
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair ! ' 
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay 
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, 
The lone and level sands stretch far away." 

2. Analyse either the first or the last half of the above 
(95.) 

3. Explain by a paraphrase, or otherwise, the passage from "Near 
them" down to "that fed." (177.) 

4. Examine and illustrate the etymology of any five of the follow- 
ing words from the above sonnet : traveller, visage, passions, survive, 
despair, level, boundless, lone, decay, colossal, desert, lip, pedestal. (100- 
144.) 

5. Show by definition and examples what is meant by (a) substan- 
tive, (b) intransitive, (c) passive, (d) defective, (e) strong (irregular) 
and (/) weak (regular) verbs. To which of the two last-named classes 
would you refer the verbs to lead, to spread, to show, to sweep, to spend ? 
and why? (34-56.) 

6. Give your definition of an adverb, a preposition, and a conjunc- 
tion, and show by examples the difference between each of them and 
the other two. Can you mention any words belonging to these three 
classes which cannot be parsed without knowing their position in a 
sentence ? (57-60.) 

7. Give a short historical sketch, with dates, of the origin and 
growth of the English language. (199-201.) 



SET C. 

[Directions as in A.) 
Composition. 

Write a letter on one of the following subjects 

(1) Gardening. 

(2) A storm at sea. 

(3) A day's angling. 

(4) Some public park. (159.) 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 261 



Grammar. 

1. Parse fully the words italicised in the following sentences (syntax 
is an essential part of parsing) : — 

1 ' For ivho would bear 
The insolence of office and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, 
But that the dread of something after death, 
The undiscovered country from whose bourne 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will, 
And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of ? " 

2. Analyse the sentence in Question 1. (86-99.) 

3. Select and classify the pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions 
in the same sentence. 

4. Explain the terms cardinal, ordinal, and indefinite numerals, and 
give examples of each. (29-31.) 

5. Give the past tenses of the verbs crow, hew, sing, win, help, bid, 
chide, write, dig, lie, get, shear, and any obsolete forms of those tenses. 
(46, 47.) 

6. Classify the English conjunctions, and show that they are fre- 
quently derived from verbs. 

7. Explain the force of the following affixes : -dom, as in martyr- 
dom ; -some, as in handsome ; -less, as in speechless ; -ible, as in inflex- 
ible ; and give other examples of each affix. (100-124.) 

8. Define a preposition, and show by examples that prepositions do 
not always precede the noun they govern. (58.) 

9. Give examples of noun, adjective, and adverbial clauses, em- 
ployed as subordinate sentences. (95.) 

10. Name the sources of our language from which the following 
words are derived : hat, shoe, vest, glove, sock, bonnet, ribbon, tunic, 
shirt. (128-144.) 



SET D. 

(Directions as in A.) 

Composition. 

Write a letter, or an essay, on one of the following subjects : — 
(a) Common fruits. 
(6) Football. 

(c) Modes of travelling. 

(d) The advantages and disadvantages of living in an old, or in a 
oewly settled, country, compared. (159.) 

Grammar. 
1. Parse the words in italics in the following passage, not omitting 



262 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

to give and explain their syntax, and carefully distinguishing the 
words which occur twice over : — 

" For therein stands the office of a King, 
His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, 
That for the public such a weight he bears. 
Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules 
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a King : ' 
Which every wise and virtuous man attains ; 
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule 
Cities of men or headstrong multitudes, 
Subject himself to anarchy within, 
Or lawless passions in him, which he serves." 

2. Analyse the passage. (95.) 

3. Of the 15 nouns in the above passage, 5 are of Anglo-Saxon, 8 of 
Latin, and 2 of Greek origin. Classify them accordingly. About which 
word only may there be a difference of opinion, and why? (131-137.) 

4. Make a list of the auxiliary verbs, distinguishing those of mood 
from those of tense. (53.) 

5. Give examples of English words in which differences of (a) case, 
(b) number, (c) gender, (d) degree, (e) mood, (/) tense, (g) voice, are 
indicated by changes in the form of the word itself (inflexion). (11.) 

6. Point out the historical order in which the several foreign ele- 
ments were incorporated into the English language. During what 
period did English seem to be dying oat, and under what circum- 
stances and influences did it revive? (198-202.) 



SET E. 

(Two hours and a half allowed for this paper.) 

No abbreviation of less than three letters to be used in parsing or analysis. 

Section I. — Parse fully the words in italics in the following pas- 
sages (syntax should not be neglected in the parsing) : — 

" Yet mourn not, Land of Fame, 
Though ne'er the Leopards on thy shield 
Retreated from so sad a field, 
Since Norman William came. 
Oft may thine annals justly boast 
Of battles stern by Scotland lost ; 
Grudge not her victory. 
When for her freeborn rights she strove y 
Rights dear to all who freedom love, 
To none so dear as thee." 

" One evening, as the Emperor was returning to the palace through a 
narrow portico, an assassin who waited his passage rushed upon him 
with a drawn sword, loudly exclaiming, ' The Senate sends you this.' 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 263 

Section II. — Point out the subjects, predicates, and objects, with 
their extensions, enlargements, or complements (if any), in the follow- 
ing sentences : — 

Remember, prince, that thou shalt die. 

Whoever reflects upon the uncertainty of his own life, will find out 
that the state of others is not more permanent. 

This exuberance of money displayed itself in wantonness of expense, 
and procured for me the acquaintance of others equally favoured by 
Fortune. (95.) 

Section" III. — Point out clearly the relations which the sentences 
included in brackets in the following passages bear to their principal 
sentences, and give your reasons for assigning each relation : — 

He (that would pass the latter part of his life with honour) must 
(when he is young) consider (that he shall one day be old) and re- 
member (when he is old) (that he has once been young). (95.) 

(When Socrates was building himself a house) being asked by one 
(who observed the littleness of the design) (why a man so eminent 
would not have an abode more suitable to his dignity) he replied (that 
he should think himself sufficiently accommodated) (if he could see 
that narrow habitation filled with real friends). 

Section IV. — 1. Explain the term "case." Show that there are 
generally only two forms of case in English, and give words that em- 
ploy more than two forms. 

Explain how the possessive case is written in English, with any 
exceptions to the general rules. (19-22.) 

2. What does the term conjugation include ? Name some of the 
English defective verbs. What condition is expressed by a subjunc- 
tive mood ? Give examples of sentences, showing varieties of that 
condition. (42-56.) 

3. What is meant by saying that prepositions express relations ? 
Give examples to show that the principal relations are those of cause, 
place, and time. (58-60.) 

Section V. — In the following passages select words containing 
Latin prefixes ; convert also the nouns into adjectives by means of 
suffixes, giving the force of each prefix and suffix. (107-110.) 

Pity presupposes sympathy. 

He satisfies his ambition with the fame he shall acquire. 

Lawful authority is seldom resisted. 

Extravagance, though suggested by vanity and excited by luxury, 
seldom procures applause. 

The passions continue their tyranny with incessant demands for 
indulgence, and life evaporates into vain repentance or impotent 
appetite. 

Section VI. — Write full notes of a lesson on one of the following 
subjects : — 

(a) Concords of verb and subject. 

(b) Complements or extensions of the predicate. 



264 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

(c) The advantages of learning Latin grammar, or some other gram 
mar than English. 

Section VII. — Write a letter descriptive of — 

(a) Some outdoor school game. 
Or, (b) A shipwreck. 
Or, (c) The beauties of summer. 
Or, (d) Your favourite walk. 

Underline any words you have used that are of Latin origin. 
(159.) 

SET F. 

' (Directions as in E.) 

Section I. — Parse fully the words in italics in the following pas- 
sages (syntax should not be neglected in the parsing) : — 

' ' The better days of life were ows ; 

The worst can be but mine : 
The sun that cheers, the storm that lowers, 

Shall never more be thine. 
The silence of that dreamless sleep 
I envy now too much to weep ; 

Nor need I to repine 
That all those charms have passed away 
I might have watched through long decay." 

" The flower in ripened bloom unmatched 
Must fall the earliest prey; 
Though by no hand untimely snatched. 
The leaves must drop away." 

Section II. — Analyse the principal sentences in the following pas- 
sage ; and state the nature of the subordinate sentences, pointing out 
the sentences upon which they depend : — 

" This mother is still alive, and may perhaps even yet, though her 
malice was often defeated, enjoy the pleasure of reflecting that the life, 
which she often endeavoured to destroy, was at last shortened by her 
maternal offices, and that, though she could not transport her son to 
the plantations, she has had the satisfaction of forcing him into exi- 
gencies that hurried on his death." (95.) 

Section III. — Select and classify the adverbs and conjunctions in 
the passage given above. (57-60.) 

Section IV. 1 — 1. Give examples of reflective, distributive, and in- 
terrogative pronouns. State the differences in usage of the relative 
pronouns who, which, and what. (27.) 

2. Explain the term preposition. What are the principal relations 

i Only one of these questions is to be answered. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 265 

indicated by prepositions ? Give examples of compound prepositions, 
formed by prefixing simple prepositions to nouns and adjectives. (59.) 
3. Explain the terms adjective and adverbial clauses. Give sen- 
tences showing that these clauses are equivalent to simple adjectives 
or adverbs. (89, 90.) 

Section V. — Select twelve of the following words, show how they 
are compounded, and derive their meaning from the meaning of their 
component parts : but, since, except, become, amongst, between, al- 
though, astray, perhaps, whither, good-bye, towards, forsooth, despite, 
gosling, boyhood, kingdom, complex. 

Section VI. — Write full notes of a lesson on one of the following 
subjects : — 

(a) Interrogative pronouns. 

(b) Moods of verbs. 

(c) Analysis of a simple sentence. 

Section VII. — Write a letter descriptive of — 

(a) The plan of some large town. 
Or, (6) A visit to a factory. 
Or, (c) A ramble by a river-side. 
Or, {d) A day's skating. (156.) 



SET G. 

( Two hours and a half allowed for this paper. ) 

No abbreviation of less than three letters to be used in parsing or analysis. 
Candidates must not answer more than one question in each of the Sections IV., V., VI. 

Composition. 

Write a letter descriptive of — 

(1) The early signs of Spring. 
Or, (2) Some Museum with which you are acquainted. 
Or, (3) Some act of kindness or heroism which you may have wit- 
nessed. 
Or, (4) Some of the difficulties of a young teacher's life. (159.) 

Section I. — Parse fully the words italicised in the following sen- 
tences (syntax is an essential part of parsing) : — 

" Yet live there still, who can remember well 
How when a mountain- chief his bugle blew, 
Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell, 
And solitary heath the signal knew ; 
And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 
What time the warning note was keenly wound, 
What time aloft their kindred banner flew, 
While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, 
And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round." 



2gg EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

Section II. — Analyse the following sentences, making a table, show- 
ing in separate columns : — 

(1) The nature of the sentence. 

(2) (If dependent) its relation to the principal sentence. 

(3) Subject. 

(4) Its enlargement (if any). 

(5) Predicate. 

(6) Its extensions (if any). 

(7) Object. 

(8) Its enlargement (if any). 

How to deal with him was a puzzling question. 

While the lion and tiger were tearing each other, the jackal had 
run off into the jungle with the prey. 

" Who spills the foremost foeman's life, 
His party conquers in the strife." 

" If I suffer causeless wrong, 

Is then my selfish rage so strong, 
My sense of public weal so low, 
That for mere vengeance on a foe 
Those cords of love I should unbind 
Which knit my country and my kind ? " 

Section III. — Select and classify the pronouns, conjunctions, and 
adverbs in the sentences given above. 

Section IV. — 1. Write out rules for the spelling of those classes 
of words which include receiving, judgment, changeable, so far as 
relates to the part of the word printed in italic type. 

2. Explain the terms reflexive, indefinite, and show in what sense 
they are applied to some of the parts of speech. (25.) 

3. Explain the term subjunctive mood, and give examples of its 
uses. (80. ) 

Section V. — 1. Show that the following words may represent two or 
more parts of speech : next, under, till, by, that, like. 

2. Derive the following words : compact, arrange, acquaint, algebra, 
geography, dissuade, abroad, precede, suspend. 

3. Give a noun, an adjective, and a verb, formed from each of the 
following Latin words : disco, sedeo, scribo, verto, duco, dico. (131.) 

Section VI. — 1. State whether the concords in the following sen- 
tences are incorrect, and give the proper rule of concord in each 
case : — (76.) 

Neither she nor James were there. 

Either Mary or Jane must fetch me their rake. 

Scott's ' Tales of a Grandfather ' were written for his grandchildren. 

2. Explain the terms metaphor, simile, and give appopriate ex- 
amples. (174.) 

3. Give examples of defective English verbs, and show how the 
deficiencies are supplied. (53.) 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 267 



SET H. 



Section V. — 1. What attempts have been made to classify the 
English irregular verbs ? Supply a brief classified list of these verbs. 
(43.) 

2. What are participles, and to what uses are they applied in the 
formation of sentences ? (40. ) 

Section VI. — 1. How do you distinguish between adverbs and 
conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions, adverbs and adjectives ? (102.) 

2. Give instances of the employment of adverbial and prepositional 
phrases, and classify them according to their meaning. (90.) 

Section VII. — Account historically for the presence of so many 
words of foreign origin in the English language. (204. ) 



SET I. 

Section I. — Parse the words in italics in the following passages : — 

"The monarch saw, and shook, 

And bade no more rejoice ; 
All bloodless waxed his look, 

And tremulous his voice: 
Let the men of lore appear, 

The wisest of the earth, 
And expound the words of fear 

That mar our royal mirth." 

Envy is of all crimes the basest : for malice and anger are appeased 
with benefits, but envy is exasperated, as envying to fortunate persons 
both their power and their wish to do good. 

Write the first passage in simple prose. (177.) 

Section II. — Analyse the following passages : — 

" Yet time may diminish the pain : 

The flower and the shrub and the tree, 
Which I reared for her pleasure in vain, 
In time may have comfort for me." 

After men have travelled through a few stages in vice, shame for- 
sakes them and turns back to wait upon the few virtues they ha* e 
still remaining. 

Section III. — Give the author, and name of poem from which taken, 
of some (not more than six) of the following lines : — 

A primrose by a river's brim. 

Some village Hampden that with dauntless breast. 

We watched her breathing through the night. 

O Solitude ! where are the charms. 

The world was all before them where to choose. 

He prayeth best, who loveth best all things both great and small. 



268 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

Our glorious Semper Eadem, the banner of our pridb. 

The quality of mercy is not strained. 

O woman ! in our hours of ease. 

Higher still and higher from the earth thou springest. 

There are seven pillars of Gothic mould. 

Now's the day and now's the hour. 

Section IV. — Classify in parallel columns — 

1. The following nouns as common, proper, collective, abstract, or 
in any other way : Mob, sheep, man, William, maid-servant, army, 
Russia, aunt, scissors, parent, authoress, pride, vixen, dream, flock, 
dragon. (9.) 

Or, 2. The following pronouns as personal, relative, interrogative, 
possessive, or in any other way : Mine, this, each, who, that, what, 
any, she, all, we, himself, whatever. (24.) 

Or, 3. The following verbs as transitive or intransitive, regular or 
irregular, weak or strong, or in any other way : Fetch, can, love, 
regard, speak, come, bring, go, sing, become, hang, do, will, carry. 
(35.) 

Section V. — 1 . Write down the comparative and superlative 
degrees of old, bad, much, late, fat, wilful, amiable, clumsy, decent. 
Name some comparatives and superlatives that have no positive. 
(32.) 

Or, 2. The past tenses and passive participles of the verbs begin, 
sting, bear, speak, tread, drive, swear, smite. Name also some defec- 
tive verbs. (53.) 

Or, 3. The meaning of the Latin prepositions ante, prai, and sub, 
used in composition as prefixes, with examples of each meaning. 
(107.) 

Section VI. — Write full notes of a lesson on one of the following 
subjects : (a) Abstract nouns ; (b) Prepositions of place ; (c) Analysis 
of sentences containing adjective clauses. 

Section VII. — Write a letter descriptive of — (a) Some manufactur- 
ing process ; (b) The locality of your town or village ; (c) The story of 
Grace Darling ; (d) The Prince of Wales's visit to India. (159.) 

Underline in the letter any words you know to be of Latin origin. 



PAET III. 

THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



INTRODUCTION. 

1. Tongue, Speech, Language. — We speak of the "English 
tongue " or of the " French language " ; and Ave say of two 
nations that they "do not understand each other's speech." 
The existence of these three words— speech, tongue, language 
— proves to us that a language is something spoken, — that it is 
a number of sounds ; and that the writing or printing of it 
upon paper is a quite secondary matter. Language, rightly 
considered, then, is an organised set of sounds. These 
sounds convey a meaning from the mind of the speaker to 
the mind of the hearer, and thus serve to connect man with 
man 

2. Written Language. — It took many hundreds of years — 
perhaps thousands — before human beings were able to invent a 
mode of writing upon paper — that is, of representing sounds 
by signs. These signs are called letters ; and the whole set of 
them goes by the name of the Alphabet — from the two first 
letters of the Greek alphabet, which are called alpha, beta. 
There are languages that have never been put upon paper at 
all, such as many of the African languages, many in the South 
Sea islands, and other parts of the globe. But in all cases, 
every language that we know anything about — English, Latin, 
French, German — existed for hundreds of years before any one 
thought of writing it down on paper. 

3. A Language Grows.- — A language is an organism or 
organic existence. Now every organism lives; and, if it 
lives, it grows ; and, if it grows, it also dies. Our language 
grows ; it is growing still ; and it has been growing for many 

271 N 



272 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

hundreds of years. As it grows it loses something, and it gains 
something else ; it alters its appearance ; changes take place in 
this part of it and in that part, — until at length its appearance 
in age is something almost entirely different from what it was 
in its early youth. If we had the photograph of a man of 
forty, and the photograph of the same person when he was a 
child of four, we should find, on comparing them, that it was 
almost impossible to point to the smallest trace of likeness in 
the features of the two photographs. And yet the two pictures 
represent the same person. And so it is with the English 
language. The oldest English, which is usually called Anglo- 
Saxon, is as different in appearance from our modern English 
as if they were two distinct languages ; and yet they are not 
two languages, but really and fundamentally one and the 
same. 

4. The English Language. — The English language is the 
speech spoken by the Anglo-Saxon race in England, in most 
parts of Scotland, in the larger part of Ireland, in the United 
States, in Canada, in Australia and New Zealand, in South 
Africa, and in many other parts of the world. In the middle 
of the fifth century it was spoken by a few thousand men who 
had lately landed in England from the Continent : it is now 
spoken by more than one hundred millions of people. In the 
course of the next sixty years, it will probably be the speech 
of two hundred millions. 

5. English on the Continent. — In the middle of the fifth 
century it was spoken in the north-west corner of Europe — 
between the mouths of the Rhine, the Weser, and the Elbe ; 
and in Schleswig there is a small district which is called Angeln 
to this day. It was a rough guttural speech that was brought 
over to the island of Britain by the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons 
in the year 449. These men left their home on the Continent 
to find here farms to till and houses to live in ; and they 
drove the inhabitants of the island — the Britons — ever farther 
and farther west, until they at length left them in peace in the 
more mountainous parts of the islands — in the southern and 
western corners, in Cornwall and in Wales. 



INTRODUCTION. 273 

6. The British Language. — What language did the Teutonic 
conquerors, who wrested the lands from the poor Britons, find 
spoken in this island when they first set foot on it? Not a 
Teutonic speech at all. They found a language not one word of 
which they could understand. The island itself was then called 
Britain; and the tongue spoken in it belonged to the Keltic 
group of languages. Languages belonging to the Keltic group 
are still spoken in Wales, in Brittany (in France), in the High- 
lands of Scotland, in the west of Ireland, and in the Isle of 
Man. A few words — very few — from the speech of the Britons, 
have come into our own English language ; and what these are 
we shall see by-and-by. 

7. The Family to which English belongs. — Our English 
tongue belongs to the Aryan or Indo-European Family of 
languages. From this Aryan mother tongue have sprung 
languages which are now spoken in India, in Persia, in Greece 
and Italy, in France and Germany, in Scandinavia, and in 
Russia ; and out of this Aryan speech our own language has 
grown. 

8. The Group to which English belongs. — The Indo- 
European family of languages consists of several groups. One 
of these is called the Teutonic Group, spoken by the Teutonic 
race found in Germany, in England and Scotland, in Holland, 
in parts of Belgium, in Denmark, in Norway and Sweden, ir 
Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The Teutonic group consists 
of three branches — -High German, Low German, and Scandi- 
navian. High German is the name given to the kind of 
German spoken in Upper Germany — that is, in the table-land 
which lies south of the river Main, and which rises gradually 
till it runs into the Alps. New High German is the German 
of books — the literary language — the. German that is taught 
and learned in schools. Low German is the name given 
to the German dialects spoken in the lowlands — in the 
German part of the Great Plain of Europe, and round the 
mouths of those German rivers that flow into the Baltic and 
the North Sea. Scandinavian is the name given to the 
languages spoken in Denmark and in the great Scandinavian 



274 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Peninsula. Of these languages, Danish and Norwegian are 
practically the same — their literary or book-language is one ; 
while Swedish is very different. Icelandic is the oldest and 
purest form of Scandinavian. The following is a table of the 

GROUP OF TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. 

TEUTONIC. 

I 



Low German. High German. Scandinavian. 

I I I 



Dutch. Flemish. Frisian. English. Old. Middle. New. Icelandic. Danish. Nor- Swedish 

wegian. 

It will be observed, on looking at the above table, that High 
German is subdivided according to time, but that the other 
groups are subdivided geographically. 

9. English a Low-German Speech. — Our English tongue 
belongs to the Low-German branch. Low German is the 
German spoken in the lowlands of Germany. From there 
our English ancestors crossed the German Ocean, and settled 
in Britain, to which they gave in time the name of Engla- 
land or England. The Low German spoken in the Netherlands 
is called Dutch; the Low German spoken in Eriesland — a 
prosperous province of Holland — is called Frisian; and the 
Low German spoken in Great Britain is called English. These 
three languages are extremely like one another; but the Con- 
tinental language that is likest the English is the Dutch or 
Hollandish dialect called Frisian. We even possess a couplet, 
every word of which is both English and Frisian. It 
runs thus — 

Good butter and good cheese 
Is good English and good Fries. 

10. Dutch and Welsh — a Contrast. — When the Teuton con- 
querors came to this country, they called the Britons foreigners, 
just as the Greeks called all other peoples besides themselves 
barbarians. By this they did not at first mean that they were 
uncivilised, but only that they were not Greeks. Now, the 
Teutonic or Saxon or English name for foreigners was Wealhas. 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 28 i 

English. In fact, if we take the Latin language by itself, 
there are in our language more Latin words than English. 
But the grammar is distinctly English, and not Latin at all. 

3. The Spoken Language and the Written Language — 
a Caution. — We must not forget what has been said about a 
language, — that it is not a printed thing — not a set of black 
marks upon paper, but that it is in truest truth a tongue or a 
speech. Hence we must be careful to distinguish between the 
spoken language and the written or printed language ; be- 
tween the language of the ear and the language of the eye ; 
between the language of the mouth and the language of the 
dictionary ; between the moving vocabulary of the market and 
the street, and the fixed, vocabulary that has been catalogued 
and imprisoned in our dictionaries. If we can only keep this in 
view, we shall find that, though there are more Latin words in 
.our vocabulary than English, the English words we possess are 
used in speaking a hundred times, or even a thousand times, 
oftener than the Latin words. It is the genuine English words 
that have life and movement ; it is they that fly about in houses, 
in streets, and in markets ; it is they that express with greatest 
force our truest and most usual sentiments — our inmost thoughts 
and our deepest feelings. Latin words are found often enough 
in books ; but, when an English man or woman is deeply moved, 
he speaks pure English and nothing else. Words are the 
coin of human intercourse ; and it is the native coin of pure 
English with the native stamp that is in daily circulation. 

4. A Diagram of English. — If we were to try to represent to 
the eye the proportions of the different elements in our vocab- 
ulary, as it is found in the dictionary, the diagram would take 
something like the following form :— 



282 HISTOKY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

DIAGRAM OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



English Words 
(including Scandinavian, Friesic, Dutch, etc. 



Latin Words 
(including Norman -French, which are also Latin). 



Greek WORDS Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindustani, 

Persian, Malay, American, etc. etc. 



5. The Foreign Elements in our English Vocabulary. — 

The different peoples and the different circumstances with 
which we have come in contact, have had many results — one 
among others, that of presenting us with contributions to our 
vocabulary. We found Kelts here ; and hence we have a num- 
ber of Keltic words in our vocabulary. The Romans held this 
island for several hundred years ; and when they had to go in 
the year 410, they left behind them a few Latin words, which we 
have inherited. About the close of the sixth century, Augustine 
and his missionary monks from Rome brought over to us a 
larger number of Latin words; and the Church which they 
founded introduced ever more and more words from Rome. 
The Danes began to come over to this island in the eighth 
century ; we had for some time a Danish dynasty seated on the 
throne of England : and hence we possess many Danish words. 
The Norman-French invasion in the eleventh century brought 
us a large addition of Latin words ; for French is in reality a 
branch of the Latin tongue. The Revival of Learning in the 
sixteenth century gave us several thousands of Latin words. 
And wherever our sailors and merchants have gone, they have 
brought back with them foreign words as well as foreign things 
— Arabic words from Arabia and Africa, Hindustani words from 
India, Persian words from Persia, Chinese words from China, 
and even Malay words from the peninsula of Malacca. Let us 
look a little more closely at these foreign elements. 

6. The Keltic Element in English. —This element is of 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 283 

three kinds : (i) Those words which we received direct from 
the ancient Britons whom we found in the island ; (ii) those 
which the Norman-French brought with them from Gaul ; (iii) 
those which have lately come into the language from the High- 
lands of Scotland, or from Ireland, or from the writings of Sir 
Walter Scott. 

7. The First Keltic Element. — This first contribution con- 
tains the following words : Bannock, clout, crock, taper, 
darn, drudge, mug, posset; dun (brown), glen, hassock, knob, 
mattock, pool. It is worthy of note that the first eight in 
the list are the names of domestic — some even of kitchen — 
things and utensils. It may, perhaps, be permitted us to 
conjecture that in many cases the Saxon invader married 
a British wife, who spoke her own language, taught her 
children to speak their mother tongue, and whose words 
took firm root in the kitchen of the new English house- 
hold. The names ot most rivers, mountains, lakes, and hills 
are, of course, Keltic ; for these names would not be likely to 
be changed by the English new-comers. There are two names for 
rivers which are found — in one form or another — in every part 
of Great Britain. These are the names Avon and Ex. The 
word Avon means simply water. We can conceive the children 
on a farm near a river speaking of it simply as " the water" ; 
and hence we find fourteen Avons in this island. Ex also 
means water ; and there are perhaps more than twenty streams 
in Great Britain with this name. The word appears as Ex in 
Exeter (the older and fuller form being Exanceaster — the camp 
on the Exe) ; as Ax in Axminster ; as Ash in Ashbourne ; as 
Ux in "Oxbridge ; and as Ouse in Yorkshire and other eastern 
counties. In Wales and Scotland, the hidden k changes its 
place and comes at the end. Thus in Wales we find Usk ; and 
in Scotland, Esk. There are at least eight Esks in the kingdom 
of Scotland alone. The commonest Keltic name for a mountain 
is Pen or Ben (in Wales it is Pen; in Scotland the flatter 
form Ben is used). We find this word in England also under 
the form of Pennine ; and, in Italy, as Apennine. 

8. The Second Keltic El«m«nt. — The Normans came from 



284 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Scandinavia early in the tenth century, and wrested the vallev 
of the Seine out of the hands of Charles the Simple, the then 
king of the French. The language spoken by the people of 
France was a broken-down form of spoken Latin, which is now 
called French; but in this language they had retained many 
Gaulish words out of the old Gaulish language. Such are the 
words: Bar, bargain, barter; barrel, basin, basket, budget; 
bonnet, garter, ribbon ; car, caul ; mutton, gown ; mitten, motley; 
rogue ; varlet, vassal ; truant. The above words were brought 
over to Britain by the Normans ; and they gradually took an 
acknowledged place among the words of our own language, and 
have held that place ever since. 

9. The Third Keltic Element. — This consists of compara- 
tively few words — such as clan ; claymore (a sword) ; philabeg 
(a kind of kilt), ptarmigan, brogue (a kind of shoe), plaid ; 
pibroch (bagpipe war-music), slogan (a war-cry) ; and whisky. 
Ireland has given us shamrock, gag, log, clog, and brogue — in 
the sense of a mode of speech. 

10. The Scandinavian Element in English. — Towards the 
end of the eighth century — in the year 787 — the Teutons of 
the North, called Northmen, Normans, or Norsemen — but more 
commonly known as Danes — made their appearance on the 
eastern coast of Great Britain, and attacked the peaceful towns 
and quiet settlements of the English. These attacks became so 
frequent, and their occurrence was so much dreaded, that a 
prayer was inserted against them in a Litany of the time — 
" From the incursions of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us ! " 
In spite of the resistance of the English, the Danes had, before 
the end of the ninth century, succeeded in obtaining a perma- 
nent footing in England ; and, in the eleventh century, a Danish 
dynasty sat upon the English throne from the year 1016 to 1042. 
From the time of King Alfred, the Danes of the Danelagh 
were a settled part of the population of England ; and hence 
we find, especially on the east coast, a large number of Danish 
names still in use. 

11. Character of the Scandinavian Element. — The North- 
men, as we have said, were Teutons ; and they spoke a dialect 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 285 

of the great Teutonic (or German) language. The sounds of 
the Danish dialect — or language, as it must now be called — are 
harder than those of the German. We find a k instead of a 
ch ; a p preferred to an f. The same is the case in Scotland, 
where the hard form kirk is preferred to the softer church. 
Where the Germans say Dorf — our English word Thorpe, a 
village — the Danes say Drup. 

12. Scandinavian Words (i). — The words contributed to our 
language by the Scandinavians are of two kinds : (i) Names of 
places ; and (ii) ordinary words, (i) The most striking instance 
of a Danish place-name is the noun by, a town. Mr Isaac 
Taylor x tells us that there are in the east of England more 
than six hundred names of towns ending in by. Almost all of 
these are found in the Danelagh, within the limits of the great 
highway made by the Eomans to the north-west, and well-known 
as Watling Street. We find, for example, Whitby, or the 
town on the white cliffs; Grimsby, or the town of Grim, a 
great sea-rover, who obtained for his countrymen the right that 
all ships from the Baltic should come into the port of Grimsby 
free of duty; Tenby, that is Daneby ; by-law, a law for a 
special town ; and a vast number of others. The following 
Danish words also exist in our times — either as separate and 
individual words, or in composition — beck, a stream; fell, a 
hill or table-land ; firth or fiord, an arm of the sea — the same 
as the Danish fiord ; force, a waterfall ; garth, a yard or en- 
closure ; holm, an island in a river ; byre, a cow-stall ; oe, an 
island ; toft, an enclosure ; thwaite, a forest clearing ; and ness 
or naze, which means a nose or promontory of land. 

13. Scandinavian Words (ii). — The most useful and the 
most frequently employed word that we have received from the 
Danes is the word are. The pure English word for this is 
beoth or sindon. The Danes gave us also the habit of using 
they, them, and their, forms which were first used in the 
North of England, and gradually superseded the A.S. hi, hira, 
and hem. We find also the following Danish words in our 
language : blunt, bole (of a tree), bound (on a journey — 

1 Words and Places, p. 158. 



286 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

properly boun), busk (to dress), cake, call, clog, clumsy 
curl, cut, dairy, daze, dirt, droop, fellow, flit, fro, froward, 
hustings, ill, irk, kid, kindle, loft, odd, plough, root, scold, 
sky, tarn (a small mountain lake), weak, and ugly. It is in 
Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lincoln, Norfolk, and 
even in the western counties of Cumberland and Lancashire, 
that we find the largest admixture of Scandinavian words. 

14. Influence of the Scandinavian Element. — The intro- 
duction of the Danes and the Danish language into England 
had the result, in the east, of unsettling the inflexions of our 
language, and thus of preparing the way for their complete dis- 
appearance. The declensions of nouns became unsettled ; 
nouns that used to make their plural in a or in u took the 
more striking plural suffix as that belonged to a quite differ- 
ent declension. The same things happened to adjectives, 
verbs, and other parts of language. The causes of this are not 
far to seek. Spoken language can never be so accurate as writ- 
ten language ; the mass of the English and Danes never cared 
or could care much for grammar ; and both parties to a conver- 
sation would of course hold firmly to the root of the word, 
which was intelligible to both of them, and let the inflexions 
slide, or take care of themselves. The more the English and 
Danes mixed with each other, the oftener they met at church, 
at games, and in the market-place, the more rapidly would this 
process of stripping go on, — the smaller care would both peoples 
take of the grammatical inflexions which they had brought with 
them into this country. 

15. The Latin Element in English. — So far as the number of 
words — the vocabulary — of the language is concerned, the Latin 
contribution is by far the most important element in our lan- 
guage. Latin was the language of the Romans ; and the Romans 
at one time were masters of the whole known world. No won- 
der, then, that they influenced so many peoples, and that their 
language found its way — east and west, and south and north — 
into almost all the countries of Europe. There are, as we have 
seen, more Latin than English words in our own language ; and 
it is therefore necessary to make ourselves acquainted with' the 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 287 

character and the uses of the Latin element — an element so 
important — in English. 1 Xot only have the Romans made 
contributions of large numbers of words to the English language, 
hut they have added to it a quite new quality, and given to its 
genius new powers of expression. So true is this, that we may 
say — without any sense of unfairness, or any feeling of exaggera- 
tion — that, until the Latin element was thoroughly mixed, united 
with, and transfused into the original English, the writings of 
Shakespeare were impossible, the poetry of the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries could not have come into existence. This 
is true of Shakespeare ; and it is still more true of Milton. His 
most powerful poetical thoughts are written in lines, the most 
telling words in which are almost always Latin. This may be 
illustrated by the following lines from " Lycidas " : — 

'" It was that fatal and perfidious bark, 
Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark, 
That sunk so low that sacred head of thine ! " 

16. The Latin Contributions and their Dates. — The first 
contribution of Latin words was made by the Romans — not, 
however, to the English, but to the Britons. The Romans 
held this island from a.d. 43 to a.d. 410. They left behind 
them — when they were obliged to go — a small contribution of 
a \try lew words, but all of tiiem important. The second 
contribution — to a large extent ecclesiastical — was made by 
Augustine and his missionary monks from Rome, and their visit 
took place in the year 597. The third contribution was made 
through the medium of the Xorman-Erench, who seized and 
subdued this island in the year 1066 and following years. The 
fourth contribution came to us by the aid of the Revival of 
Learning — rather a process than an event, the dates of which 
are vague, but which may be said to have taken place in the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Latin left for us 
by the Romans is called Latin of the First Period; that 
brought over by the missionaries from Rome, Latin of the 

1 In the last half of this sentence, all the essential words — necessary, ac- 
quainted, character, uses, element, important, are Latin (except character, 
which is Greek), 



288 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Second Period; thaj; given us by the Norman-French, Latin 
of the Third Period ; and that which came to us from the 
Kevival of Learning, Latin of the Fourth Period. The first 
consists of a few names handed down to us through the Britons ; 
the second, of a number of words — mostly relating to ecclesias- 
tical affairs — brought into the spoken language by the monks ; 
the third, of a large vocabulary, that came to us by mouth, and 
ear ; and the fourth, of a very large treasure of words, which we 
received by means of books and the eye. Let us now look 
more closely and carefully at them, each in its turn. 

17. Latin of the First Period.— (i) The Romans held Bri- 
tain for nearly four hundred years ; and they succeeded in 
teaching the wealthier classes among the Southern Britons to 
speak Latin. They also built towns in the island, made splen- 
did roads, formed camps at important points, framed good laws, 
and administered the affairs of the island with considerable 
justice and uprightness. But, never having come directly into 
contact with the Angles or Saxons themselves, they could not 
in any way influence their language by oral communication — 
by speaking to them. What they left behind them was only 
a few words, most of which became merely the prefixes or the 
suffixes of the names of places. The most important of these 
words were Castra, a camp ; Strata {via), a paved road ; 
Colonia, a settlement (generally of soldiers) ; Fossa, a trench ; 
Portus, a harbour ; and Vallum, a rampart. 

18. Latin of the First Period (ii). — (a) The treatment of 
*he Latin word castra in this island has been both singular and 
significant. It has existed in this country for nearly nineteen 
hundred years ; and it has always taken the colouring of the 
locality into whose soil it struck root. In the north and 
east of England it is sounded hard, and takes the form of 
caster, as in Lancaster, Doncaster, Tadcaster, and others. 
In the midland counties, it takes the softer form of cester, 
as in Leicester, Towcester ; and in the extreme west and 
south, it takes the still softer form of Chester, as in Chester, 
Manchester, Winchester, and others. It is worthy of notice 
that there are in Scotland no words ending in caster. Though 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 289 

the Eomans had camps in Scotland, they do not seem to have 
been so important as to become the centres of towns, (b) The 
word strata has also taken different forms in different parts of 
England. While castra has generally been a suffix, strata 
shows itself constantly as a prefix. When the Eomans came to 
this island, the country was impassable by man. There were 
no roads worthy of the name, — what paths there were being 
merely foot-paths or bridle-tracks. One of the first things the 
Eomans did was to drive a strongly built military road from 
Fvichborough, near Dover, to the river Dee, on which they 
formed a standing camp (Castra stativa) which to this day 
bears the name of Chester. This great road became the high- 
way of all travellers from north to south, — was known as 
" The Street," and was called by the Saxons Watling Street. 
But this word street also became a much-used prefix, and took 
the different forms of strat, strad, stret, and streat. All 
towns with such names are to be found on this or some other 
great Eoman road. Thus Ave have Stratford-on-Avon, Strat- 
ton, Stradbroke, Stretton, Stretford (near Manchester), and 
Streatham (near London). — Over the other words we need not 
dwell so long. Colonia Ave find in Colne, Lincoln, and others; 
fossa in Fossway, Fosbrooke, and Fosbridge ; portus, in 
Portsmouth and Bridport; and vallum in -wall, which ap- 
pears as a prefix in Wallbury and Walton. To the Eomans 
also we are indebted for the word mile, the great roads which 
ran through the island being carefully marked by milestones. 

19. Latin Element of the Second Period (i). — The story of 
Pope Gregory and the Eoman mission to England is widely 
knoAvn. Gregory, when a young man, Avas crossing the Eoman 
forum one morning, and, Avhen passing the side Avhere the 
slave-mart Avas held, observed, as he Avalked, some beautiful 
boys, with fair hair, blue eyes, and clear bright complexion. 
He asked a bystander of what nation the boys were. The 
answer was, that they Avere Angles. "2sb,, not Angles," he 
replied; "they are angels." On learning further that they 
were heathens, he registered a silent vow that he Avould, if 
Providence gave him an opportunity, deliver them from the 



290 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

darkness of heathendom, and bring them and their relatives into 
the light and liberty of the Gospel. Time passed by ; and in 
the long course of time Gregory became Pope. In his unlooked- 
for greatness, he did not forget his vow. In the year 597 he 
sent ovei to Kent a missionary, called Augustine, along with 
forty monks. They were well received by the King of Kent, 
allowed to settle in Canterbury, and to build a small cathedral 
there. 

20. Latin Element of the Second Period (ii). — This mission, 
the churches that grew out of it, the Christian customs that in 
time took root in the country, and the trade that followed in its 
track, brought into the language a number of Latin words, most 
of them the names of church offices, services, and observances. 
Thus we find, in our oldest English, the words, postol from 
apostolus, a person sent ; biscop, from episcopus, an overseer ; 
calc, from calix, a cup ; clerc, from clericus, an ordained 
member of the church ; munec, from monachus, a solitary 
person or monk ; preost, from presbyter, an elder ; aelmesse, 
from eleemosune, alms ; predician, from proedicare, to preach ; 
regol, from regula, a rule. [Apostle, bishop, clerk, monk, priest, 
and alms come to us really from Greek words — but through 
the Latin tongue.) 

21. Latin Element of the Second Period (iii). — The intro- 
duction of the Roman form of Christianity brought with it 
increased communication with Rome and with the Continent 
generally ; widened the experience of Englishmen ; gave a 
stimulus to commerce; and introduced into this island new 
things and products, and along with the things and products 
new names. To this period belongs the introduction of the 
words : Butter, cheese ; cedar, fig, pear, peach ; lettuce, 
lily ; pepper, pease ; camel, lion, elephant ; oyster, trout ; 
pound, ounce ; candle, table ; marble ; mint. 

22. Latin of the Third Period (i). — The Latin element of 
the Third Period is in reality the French that was brought 
over to this island by the Normans in 1066, and is generally 
called Norman-French. It differed from the French of Paris 
both in spelling and in pronunciation. For example, Norman- 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 291 

French, wrote people for peuple ; leal for loyal ; real foi 
royal; re*alm for royaume ; and so on. But both of these 
dialects (and every dialect of French) are simply forms of Latin 
— not of the Latin written and printed in books, but of the 
Latin spoken in the camp, the fields, the streets, the village, and 
the cottage. The Romans conquered Gaul, where a Keltic 
tongue was spoken ; and the Gauls gradually adopted Latin as 
their mother tongue, and — with the exception of the Bretons 
of Brittany — left off their Keltic speech almost entirely. In 
adopting the Latin tongue, they had — as in similar cases — taken 
firm hold of the root of the word, but changed the pronunciation 
of it, and had, at the same time, compressed very much or entirely 
dropped many of the Latin inflexions. The French people, an 
intermixture of Gauls and other tribes (some of them, like the 
Franks, German), ceased, in fact, to speak their own language, 
and learned the Latin tongue. The Norsemen, led by Duke 
Rolf or Rollo or Rou, marched south in large numbers ; and, 
in the year 912, wrested from King Charles the Simple the fair 
valley of the Seine, settled in it, and gave to it the name of 
Normandy. These Norsemen, now Normans, were Teutons, and 
spoke a Teutonic dialect ; but, when they settled in France, 
they learned in course of time to speak French. The kind of 
French they spoke is called Norman-French, and it was this 
kind of French that they brought over with, them in 1066. 
But Norman-French had made its appearance in England before 
the famous year of '66 ; for Edward the Confessor, who suc- 
ceeded to the English throne in 1042, had been educated at the 
Norman Court ; and he not only spoke the language himself, but 
insisted on its being spoken by the nobles who lived with him 
in his Court. 

23. Latin of the Third Period (ii). Chief Dates. — The Nor- 
mans, having utterly beaten down the resistance of the English, 
seized the land and all the political power of this country, and 
filled all kinds of offices — both spiritual and temporal — with 
their Norman brethren. Norman-French became the language ol 
the Court and the nobility, the language of Parliament and the 
law courts, of the universities and the schools, of the Church 



292 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

and of literature. The English people held fast to their own 
tongue ; but they picked up many French words in the markets 
and other places "where men most do congregate." But 
French, being the language of the upper and ruling classes, was 
here and there learned by the English or Saxon country-people 
who had the ambition to be in the fashion, and were eager " to 
speke Frensch, for to be more y-told of," — to be more highly 
considered than their neighbours. It took about three hundred 
years for French words and phrases to soak thoroughly into 
English; and it was not until England was saturated with 
French words and French rhythms that the great poet Chaucer 
appeared to produce poetic narratives that were read with 
delight both by Norman baron and by Saxon yeoman. In the 
course of these three hundred years this intermixture of French 
with English had been slowly and silently going on. Let us 
look at a few of the chief land-marks in the long process. In 
1042 Edward the Confessor introduces Norman-French into his 
Court. In 1066 Duke William introduces Norman-Fiench into 
the whole country, and even into parts of Scotland. The oldest 
English, or Anglo-Saxon, ceases to be written, anywhere in the 
island, in public documents, in the year 1154. In 1204 we 
lost Normandy, a loss that had the effect of bringing the Eng- 
lish and the Normans closer together. Eobert of Gloucester 
writes his chronicle in 1272, and uses a large number of French 
words. But, as early as the reign of Henry the Third, in the 
year 1258, the reformed and reforming Government of the day 
issued a proclamation in English, as well as in French and Latin. 
In 1303, Robert of Brunn introduces a large number of French 
words. The French wars in Edward the Third's reign brought 
about a still closer union of the Norman and the Saxon elements 
of the nation. But, about the middle of the fourteenth century 
a reaction set in, and it seemed as if the genius of the English 
language refused to take in any more French words. The 
English silent stubbornness seemed to have prevailed, and 
Englishmen had made up their minds to be English in speech, 
as they were English to the backbone in everything else. 
Norman-French had, in fact, become provincial, and was spoken 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 293 

only here and there. Before the great Plague — commonly 
spoken of as "The Black Death"— of 1349, both high and 
low seemed to be alike bent on learning French, but the reaction 
may be said to date from this year. The culminating point of 
this reaction may perhaps be seen in an Act of Parliament passed 
in 1362 by Edward III., by which both French and Latin 
had to give place to English in our courts of law. The poems 
of Chaucer are the literary result — "the bright consummate 
flower " of the union of two great powers — the brilliance of the 
French language on the one hand and the homely truth and 
steadfastness of English on the other. Chaucer was born in 
1340, and died in 1400; so that we may say that he and his 
poems — though not the causes — are the signs and symbols of 
the great influence that French obtained and held over our 
mother tongue. But although we accepted so many words from 
our Xorman-French visitors and immigrants, we accepted from 
them no habit of speech whatever. We accepted from them no 
phrase or idiom : the build and nature of the English language 
remained the same — unaffected by foreign manners or by foreign 
habits. It is true that Chaucer has the ridiculous phrase, " I 
n'am but dead" ( = no better than, i.e. almost, dead) — where 
ne-but is nearly an exact parallel of the French ne-que. But, 
though our tongue has always been and is impervious to 
foreign idiom, it is probably owing to the great influx of French 
words which took place chiefly in the thirteenth century that many 
people have acquired a habit of using a long French or Latin 
word when an English word would do quite as well — or, indeed, 
a, great deal better. Thus some people are found to call a good 
house, a desirable mansion; and, instead of the quiet old English 
proverb, " Buy once, buy twice," we have the roundabout Latin- 
isms, "A single commission will ensure a repetition of orders." 
An American writer, speaking of the foreign ambassadors who 
had been attacked by Japanese soldiers in Yeddo, says that 
"they concluded to occupy a location more salubrious." This is 
only a foreign language, instead of the simple and homely Eng- 
lish : " They made up their minds to settle in a healthier spot." 



294 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

24. Latin of the Third Period (iii). Norman "Words (a). — 

The Gorman-French words were of several different kinds. 
There were words connected with war, with feudalism, and 
with the chase. There were new law terms, and words con- 
nected with the State, and the new institutions introduced by 
the Normans. There were new words brought in by the Nor- 
man churchmen. New titles unknown to the English were 
also introduced. A better kind of cooking, a higher and less 
homely style of living, was brought into this country by the 
Normans ; and, along with these, new and unheard-of words. . 

25. Norman Words (b). — The following are- some of tha 
Norman - French terms connected with war : Arms, armour ; 
assault, battle ; captain, chivalry ; joust, lance ; standard, 
trumpet ; mail, vizor. The English word for armour was 
harness ; but the Normans degraded that word into the armour 
of a horse. Battle comes from the Fr. hattre, to beat : the 
corresponding English word is fight. Captain comes from 
the Latin caput, a head. Mail comes from the Latin macula, 
the mesh of a net • and the first coats of mail were made of rings 
or a kind of metal network. Vizor comes from the Fr. viser, 
to look. It was the barred part of the helmet which a man 
could see through. 

26. Norman Words (c). — Feudalism may be described as the 
holding of land on condition of giving or providing service in 
war. Thus a knight held land of his baron, under promise to 
serve him so many days ; a baron of his king, on condition 
that he brought so many men into the field for such and such 
a time at the call of his Overlord. William the Conqueror 
made the feudal system universal in every part of England, 
and compelled every English baron to swear homage to him- 
self personally. Words relating to feudalism are, among 
others : Homage, fealty ; esquire, vassal ; herald, scutch- 
eon, and others. Homage is the declaration of obedience for 
life of one man to another — that the inferior is the man (Fr. 
homme ; L. homo) of the superior. Fealty is the Norman-French 
form of the word fidelity. An esquire is a scutiger (L.), or 
shield-bearer; for he carried the shield of the knight, when 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 295 

they were travelling and no fighting was going on. A vassal 
was a "little young man," — in Low-Latin vassallus, a diminu- 
tive of vassus, from the Keltic word gicds, a man. (The form 
vassaletus is also found, which gives us our vavlet and valet.) 
Scutcheon comes from the Lat. scutum, a shield. Then scut- 
cheon or escutcheon came to mean coat-of-arms — or the marks 
and signs on his shield by which the name and family of a man 
were known, when he himself was covered from head to foot in 
iron mail. 

27. Norman Words (d). — The terms connected with the 
chase are : Brace, couple ; chase, course ; covert, copse, 
forest ; leveret, mews ; quarry, venison. A few remarks 
about some of these may be interesting. Brace comes from 
the Old French brace, an arm (Mod. French bras) ; from the 
Latin brachium. The root-idea seems to be that which encloses 
or holds up. Thus bracing air is that which strings up the 
nerves and muscles ; and a brace of birds was two birds tied 
together with a string. — The word forest contains in itself 
a good deal of unwritten Norman history. It comes from the 
Latin adverb foras, out of doors. Hence, in Italy, a stranger or 
foreigner is still called a forestiere. A forest in Norman-French 
was not necessarily a breadth of land covered with trees ; it 
was simply land out of the jurisdiction of the common law. 
Hence, when "William the Conqueror created the New Forest, 
he merely took the land out of the rule and charge of the com- 
mon law, and put it under his own regal power and personal 
care. In land of this kind — much of which was kept for hunt- 
ing in — trees were afterwards planted, partly to shelter large 
game, and partly to employ ground otherwise useless in growing 
timber. — Mews is a very odd word. It comes from the Latin 
verb mutare, to change. When the falcons employed in hunting 
were changing their feathers, or moulting (the word moult is the 
same as mews in a different dress), the French shut them in 
a cage, which they called mue — from mutare. Then the stables 
for horses were put in the same place ; and hence a row of 
stables has come to be called a mews. — Quarry is quite as 
strange. The word quarry, which means a mine of stones, 



296 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

comes from the Latin quadrare, to make square. But t)v> 
hunting term quarry is of a quite different origin. That comes 
from the Latin corium (the hide), which the Old French altered 
into curee. When a wild beast was run down and killed, the 
entrails, wrapped up in the hide, were thrown to the dogs as 
their share of the hunt. The word venison comes to us, 
through French, from the Lat. vendri, to hunt; and hence it 
means hunted flesh. The same word gives us venery — the term 
that was used in the fourteenth century, by Chaucer among 
others, for hunting. 

28. Norman Words (e). — The Normans introduced into Eng- 
land their own system of law, their own law officers ; and hence, 
into the English language, came Norman-French law terms. 
The following are a few : Assize, attorney ; chancellor, court; 
judge, justice; plaintiff, sue; summons, trespass. A few 
remarks about some of these may be useful. The chancellor 
(cancellarius) was the legal authority who sat behind lattice- 
work, which was called in Latin cancelli. This word means, 
primarily, little crabs; and it is a diminutive from cancer, a 
crab. It was so called because the lattice-work looked like 
crabs' claws crossed. Our word cancel comes from the same 
root : it means to make cross lines through anything we wish 
deleted. — Court comes from the Latin cors or cohors, a sheep- 
pen. It afterwards came to mean an enclosure, and also a 
body of Eoman soldiers. — The proper English word for & judge 
is deemster or demster (which appears as the proper name 
Dempster); and this is still the name for a judge in the Isle 
of Man. The French word comes from the Latin judicem (jus, 
right, and dicare, to point out). The word jus is seen in the 
other French term which we have received from the Normans- 
justice. — Sue comes from the Old Fr. suir, which appears in 
Modern Fr. as suivre. It is derived from the Lat. word sequor, 
I follow (which gives our sequel) ; and we have compounds of it 
in ensue, issue, and pursue. — The tres in trespass is a French 
form of the Latin trans, beyond or across. Trespass, therefore, 
means to cross the bounds of right. 

29. Norman Words (/). — Some of the church terms intro- 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 297 

duced by the Norman-French, are : Sermon, Bible ; baptism, 
ceremony ; friar ; tonsure ; penance, relic. — The Normans 
gave us the words title and dignity themselves, and also 
the following titles : Duke, marquis ; count, viscount ; 
peer; mayor, and others. A duke is a leader; from the 
Latin dux ( = duc-s). A marquis is a lord who has to ride 
the marches or borders between one county, or between one 
country, and another. A marquis was also called a Lord- 
Marcher. The word count never took root in this island, 
because its place was already occupied by the Danish name 
earl ; but we preserve it in the names countess and viscount 
— the latter of which means a person in the place of (L. vice) 
a count. Peer comes from the Latin pai\ an equal. The 
House of Peers is the House of Lords — that is, of those who 
are, at least when in the House, equal in rank and equal in 
power of voting. It is a fundamental doctrine in English 
law that every man "is to be tried by his peers." — It is worthy 
of note that, in general, the French names for different kinds 
of food designated the cooked meats ; while the names for 
the living animals that furnish them are English. Thus 
we have beef and ox; mutton and sheep ; veal and calf ; pork 
and pig. There is a remarkable passage in Sir Walter Scott's 
' Ivanhoe,' which illustrates this fact with great force and pic- 
turesqueness : — 

" ' Gurth, I advise thee to call off Fangs, and leave the herd to 
their destiny, which, whether they meet with bands of travelling 
soldiers, or of outlaws, or of wandering pilgrims, can be little 
else than to be converted into Normans before morning, to thy 
no small ease and comfort.' 

" ' The swine turned Normans to my comfort ! ' quoth Gurth; 
' expound that to me, Wamba, for my brain is too dull, and my 
mind too vexed, to read riddles.' 

" ' Why, how call you those grunting brutes running about on 
their four legs 1 ' demanded Wamba. 

" ' Swine, fool, swine,' said the herd ; ' every fool knows 
that.' 

" 'And swine is good Saxon,' said the jester; ' but how call 



298 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and 
hung up by the heels, like a traitor 1 f 

" ' Pork,' answered the swine-herd. 

" ' I am very glad every fool knows that too,' said Wamba ; 
1 and pork, I think, is good Norman-French : and so when the 
brute lives, and is in the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by 
her Saxon name ; but becomes a Norman, and is called pork, 
when she is carried to the castle-hall to feast among the nobles ; 
what dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha 1 ' 

" c It is but too true doctrine, friend Wamba, however it got 
into thy fool's pate.' 

" ' Nay, I can tell you more/ said Wamba, in the same tone ; 
' there is old Alderman Ox continues to hold his Saxon epithet, 
while he is under the charge of serfs and bondsmen such as 
thou, but becomes Beef, a fiery Trench gallant, when he arrives 
before the worshipful jaws that are destined to consume him. 
Mynheer Calf, too, becomes Monsieur de Veau in the like man- 
ner ; he is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes a Nor- 
man name when he becomes matter of enjoyment.' " 

30. General Character of the Norman-French Contributions. 
— The Norman-Trench contributions to our language gave us 
a number of general names or class-names ; while the names 
for individual things are, in general, of purely English origin. 
The words animal and beast, for example, are French (or 
Latin) ; but the words fox, hound, whale, snake, wasp, and 
fly are purely English. — The words family, relation, parent, 
ancestor, are French ; but the names father, mother, son, 
daughter, gossip, are English. — The words title and dignitj 
are French ; but the words king and queen, lord and lady, 
knight and sheriff, are English. — Perhaps the most remarkable 
instance of this is to be found in the abstract terms employed 
for the offices and functions of State. Of these, the English 
language possesses only one — the word kingdom. Norman- 
French, on the other hand, has given us the words realm, court, 
state, constitution, people, treaty, audience, navy, army, 
and others — amounting in all to nearly forty. When, how- 
ever, we come to terms denoting labour and work — such as agri* 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 2 i*9 

culture and seafaring, we find the proportions entirely reversed. 
The English language, in such cases, contributes almost every- 
thing ; the French nearly nothing. In agriculture, while plough, 
rake, harrow, and very many others are English words, not a 
single term for an agricultural process or implement has been 
given us by the warlike Norman -French. — While the words 
ship and boat ; hull and fleet ; oar and sail, are all English, 
the Normans have presented us with only the single word 
prow. It is as if all the Norman conqueror had to do was to 
take his stand at the prow, gazing upon the land he was going 
to setee, while the Low-German sailors worked for him at oar and 
sail. — Again, while the names of the various parts of the body 
— eye, nose, cheek, tongue, hand, foot, and more than eighty 
others — are all English, we have received only about ten similar 
words from the French — «uch as spirit and corpse ; perspira- 
tion ; face and stature. Speaking broadly, we may say that all 
words that express general notions, or generalisations, are 
French or Latin ; while words that express specific actions or 
concrete existences are pure English. Mr Spalding observes — 
" We use a foreign term naturalised when we speak of ' colour ' 
universally ; but we fall back on our home stores if we have to 
tell what the colour is, calling it 'red' or 'yellow,' 'white' or 
' black,' ' green ' or ' brown.' We are Romans when we speak 
in a general way of ' moving ' ; but we are Teutons if we ' leap ' 
or ' spring,' if we ' slip,' ' slide,' or ' fall,' if we ' walk,' ' run/ 
'swim,' or ' ride,' if we 'creep' or 'crawl' or 'fly.'" 

31. Gains to English from Norman : French. — The gains from 
the Norman-French contribution are large, and are also of very 
great importance. Mr Lowell says, that the Norman element 
came in as quickening leaven to the rather heavy and lumpy 
Saxon dough. It stirred the whole mass, gave new life to 
the language, a much higher and wider scope to the thoughts, 
much greater power and copiousness- to the expression of our 
thoughts, and a finer and brighter rhythm to our English 
sentences. "To Chaucer," he says, in 'My Study Windows,' 
" French must have been almost as truly a mother tongue as 
English. In him we see the first result of the Norman yeast 



300 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

upon the home-baked Saxon loaf. The flour had been honest, 
the paste well kneaded, but the inspiring leaven was wanting 
till the Norman brought it over. Chaucer works still in the 
solid material of his race, but with what airy lightness has he 
not infused it 1 Without ceasing to be English, he has escaped 
from being insular." Let us look at some of these gains a little 
more in detail. 

32. Norman -French Synonyms. — We must not consider a 
synonym as a word that means exactly the same thing as the 
word of which it is a synonym ; because then there would be 
neither room nor use for such a word in the language* A 
synonym is a word of the same meaning as another, but with 
a slightly different shade of meaning, — or it is used under 
different circumstances and in a different connection, or it puts 
the same idea under a new angle. Begin and commence, will 
and testament, are exact equivalents — are complete synonyms; 
but there are very few more of this kind in our language. The 
moment the genius of a language gets hold of two words of the 
same meaning, it sets them to do different kinds of work, — to 
express different parts or shades of that meaning. Thus limb 
and member, luck and fortune, have the same meaning j 
but we cannot speak of a limb of the Royal Society, or of 
the luck of the Eothschilds, who made their fortune by hard 
work and steady attention to business. We have, by the aid of 
the Norman-French contributions, flower as well as bloom; 
branch and bough ; purchase and buy ; amiable and 
friendly ; cordial and hearty ; country and land ; gentle 
and mild ; desire and wish ; labour and work ; miserable and 
wretched. These pairs of words enable poets and other writers 
to use the right word in the right place. And we, preferring 
our Saxon or good old English words to any French or Latin 
importations, prefer to speak of a hearty welcome instead 
of a cordial reception ; of a loving wife instead of an ami- 
able consort ; of a wretched man instead of a miserable 
individual. 

33. Bilingualism. — How did these Norm an -French words 
find their way into the language 1 What was the road by which 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 301 

they came ? What was the process that enabled them to find a 
place in and to strike deep root into our English soil 1 Did the 
learned men — the monks and the clergy — make a selection of 
words, write them in their books, and teach them to the English 
people ? Nothing of the sort. The process was a much ruder 
one — but at the same time one much more practical, more effec- 
tual, and more lasting in its results. The two peoples — the 
Normans and the English — found that they had to live together. 
They met at church, in the market-place, in the drilling field, at 
the archery butts, in the courtyards of castles ; and, on the 
battle-fields of France, the Saxon bowman showed that he could 
fight as well, as bravely, and even to better purpose than his lord 
— the Norman baron. At all these places, under all these cir- 
cumstances, the Norman and the Englishman were obliged to 
speak with each other. Now arose a striking phenomenon. 
Every man, as Professor Earle puts it, turned himself as it were 
into a walking phrase-book or dictionary. When a Norman had 
to use a French word, he tried to put the English word for it 
alongside of the French word ; when an Englishman used an 
English word, he joined with it the French equivalent. Then 
the language soon began to swarm with " yokes of words " ; our 
words went in couples ; and the habit then begun has continued 
down even to the present day. And thus it is that we possess 
such couples as will and testament ; act and deed ; use and 
■wont ; aid and abet. Chaucer's poems are full of these pairs. 
He joins together hunting and venery (though both words 
mean exactly the same thing) ; nature and kind ; cheere and 
face ; pray and beseech ; mirth and jollity. Later on, the 
Prayer-Book, which was written in the years 1540 to 1559, 
keeps up the habit : and we find the pairs acknowledge and 
confess ; assemble and meet together ; dissemble and 
cloak ; humble and lowly. To the more English part of the 
congregation the simple Saxon words would come home with 
kindly association ; to others, the words confess, assemble, dis- 
semble, and humble would speak with greater force and clearness. 
— Such is the phenomenon called by Professor Earle bilingual- 
ism. "It is, in fact," he says, "a putting of colloquial for- 



302 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

mulae to do the duty of a French-English, and English-French 
vocabulary." Even Hooker, who wrote at the end of the six- 
teenth century, seems to have been obliged to use these pairs ; 
and we find in his writings the couples " cecity and blindness," 
"nocive and hurtful," "sense and meaning." 

34. Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman-French. 
— (i) Before the coming of the Normans, the English language 
was in the habit of forming compounds with ease and effect. 
But, after the introduction of the Norman-French language, that 
power seems gradually to have disappeared ; and. ready-made 
French or Latin words usurped the place of the home-grown 
English compound. Thus despair pushed out wanhope ; 
suspicion dethroned wantrust ; bidding - sale was expelled 
by auction ; learning-knight by disciple ; rime-craft by the 
Greek word arithmetic ; gold-hoard by treasure ; book-hoard 
by library; earth -tilth by agriculture; wonstead by 
residence ; and so with a large number of others.- — Many 
English words, moreover, had their meanings depreciated and 
almost degraded ; and the words themselves lost their ancient 
rank and dignity. Thus the Norman conquerors put their 
foot — literally and metajmorically — on the Saxon chair, 1 which 
thus became a stool, or a footstool. Thatch, which is a 
doublet of the word deck, was the name for any kind of roof \ 
but the coming of the Norman-French lowered it to indicate a 
roof of straw. "Whine was used for the weeping or crying oi 
human beings ; but it is now restricted to the cry of a dog. 
Hide was the generic term for the skin of any animal ; it is 
now limited in modern English to the skin of a beast. — The 
most damaging result upon our language was that it entirely 
stopped the growth of English words. We could, foi 
example, make out of the word burn — the derivatives brunt, 
brand, brandy, brown, brimstone, and others ; but this 
power died out with the coming in of the N orman - French 
language. After that, instead of growing our own words, we 

1 Chair is the Norman-French form of the French chaise. The Germans 
still call a chair a stuhl; and among the English, stool was the universal name 
till the twelfth century. 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 303 

adopted them ready-made. — Professor Craik compares the 
English and Latin languages to two banks; and says that, 
when the Normans came over, the account at the English bank 
was closed, and we drew only upon the Latin bank. But the 
case is worse than this. English lost its power of growth and 
expansion from the centre ; from this time, it could only add 
to its bulk by borrowing and conveying from without — by the 
external accretion of foreign words. 

35. Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman-French. 
— (ii) The arrestment of groAvth in the purely English part of 
our language, owing to the irruption of Norman-Erench, and 
also to the ease with which we could take a ready-made word 
from Latin or from Greek, killed off an old power which we 
once possessed, and which was not without its own use and 
expressiveness. This was the power of making compound 
words. The Greeks in ancient times had, and the Germans 
in modern times have, this power in a high degree. Thus a 
Greek comic poet has a word of fourteen syllables, which may 
"be thus translated — 

" Meanly-rising-early-and-hurrying-to-the-tribuual-to-denounce-another. 
for-an-infraction-of-the-law-concerning-the-exportation-of-figs." 1 

And the Germans have a compound like " the-all-to-nothing- 
crushing philosopher." The Germans also say iron-path for rail- 
way^ handshoe for glove, and finger-hat for thimble. We also 
possessed this power at one time, and employed it both in 
proper and in common names. Thus we had and have the 
names Brakespear, Shakestaff, Shakespjear, Golightly, Dolittle, 
Standfast ; and the common nouns ivant-wit, find-fault, mumble- 
news (for tale-bearer), pinch-penny (for miser), slugabed. In 
older times we had three- foot -stool, three-man-beetle ^ ; stone- 
cold, heaven-bright, honey-sweet, snail-slow, nut-brown, lily-livered 
(for cowardly) ; brand-fire-neio ; earth-ivandering, wind-dried, 
thunder-blasted, death-doomed, and many others. But such 
words as forbears or fore-elders have been pushed out by ances- 

1 In two words, & jig -shower or sycophant. 

2 A club for beating clothes, that could be handled only by three men. 






304 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

tors ; forewit by caution or prudence ; and inwit by conscience. 
Mr Barnes, the Dorsetshire poet, would like to see these and 
similar compounds restored, and thinks that we might well 
return to the old clear well-springs of "English un defiled," 
and make our own compounds out of our own words. He 
even carries his desires into the region of English grammar, 
and, for degrees of comparison, proposes the phrase pitches of 
suchness. Thus, instead of the Latin word omnibus, he would 
have folk-ioain ; for the Greek botany, he would substitute 
wort-lore; for auction, he would give us bode-sale ; globule he 
would replace with ballkin ; the Greek word horizon must give 
way to the pure English sky-edge ; and, instead of quadrangle, 
he would have us all write and say four-winkle. 

36. Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman- 
French. — (iii) When once a way was made for the entrance of 
French words into our English language, the immigrations wer<^ 
rapid and numerous. Hence there were many changes both 
in the grammar and in the vocabulary of English from the 
year 1100, the year in which we may suppose those English- 
men who were living at the date of the battle of Hastings had 
died out. These changes were more or less rapid, according 
to circumstances. But perhaps the most rapid and remarkable 
change took place in the lifetime of "William Caxton, the great 
printer, who was born in 1410. In his preface to his translation 
of the 'iEneid' of Virgil, which he published in 1490, when he 
was eighty years of age, he says that he cannot understand old 
books that were written when he was a boy — that "the olde 
Englysshe is more lyke to dutche than englysshe," and that " our 
langage now vsed varyeth ferre from that whiche was vsed and 
spoken when I was borne. For we Englysshemen ben borne 
ynder the domynacyon of the mone [moon], which is neuer 
stedfaste, but euer wauerynge, wexynge one season, and waneth 
and dycreaseth another season." This as regards time. — But 
he has the same complaint to make as regards place. " Comyn 
englysshe that is spoken in one shyre varyeth from another." 
And he tells an odd story in illustration of this fact. He tells 
about certain merchants who were in a ship " in Tamyse " (on the 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 305 

Thames), who were bound for Zealand, but were wind-stayed at 
the Foreland, and took it into their heads to go on shore there. 
One of the merchants, whose name was Sheffelde, a mercer, 
entered a house, "and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd 
after eggys." But the " goode-wyf " replied that she " coude 
speke no frenshe." The merchant, who was a steady English- 
man, lost his temper, " for he also coude speke no frenshe, but 
wolde have hadde eggys ; and she understode hym not." Fortu- 
nately, a friend happened to join him in the house, and he acted 
as interpreter. The friend said that "he wolde have eyren; 
then the goode wyf sayde that she understod hym wel." And 
then the simple-minded but much-perplexed Caxton goes on to 
say: " Loo ! what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte, egges 
or eyren 1 ?" Such were the difficulties that beset printers and 
writers in the close of the fifteenth century. 

37. Latin of the Fourth Period. — (i) This contribution differs 
very essentially in character from the last. The Norman-French 
contribution was a gift from a people to a people — from living 
beings to living beings ; this new contribution was rather a con- 
veyance of words from books to books, and it never influenced 
— in any great degree — the spoken language of the English 
people. The ear and the mouth carried the Norman-French 
words into our language; the eye, the pen, and the printing- 
press were the instruments that brought in the Latin words of 
the Fourth Period. The Norman-French words that came in 
took and kept their place in the spoken language of the masses 
of the people ; the Latin words that we received in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries kept their place in the written or 
printed language of books, of scholars, and of literary men. 
These new Latin words came in with the Revival of Learning, 
which is also called the Renascence. 

The Turks attacked and took Constantinople in the year 
1453; and the great Greek and Latin scholars who lived in 
that city hurriedly packed up their priceless manuscripts and 
books, and fled to all parts of Italy, Germany, France, and even 
into England. The loss of the East became the gain of the 
West. These scholars became teachers ; they taught the Greek 



306 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

and Eoman classics to eager and earnest learners ; and thus a 
new impulse was given to the study of the great masterpieces of 
human thought and literary style. And so it came to pass in 
course of time that every one who wished to become an edu- 
cated man studied the literature of Greece and Korne. Even 
women took to the study. Lady Jane Grey was a good Greek 
and Latin scholar; and so was Queen Elizabeth. Erom this 
time began an enormous importation of Latin words into our 
language. Being imported by the eye and the pen, they suffered 
little or no change ; the spirit of the people did not influence 
them in the least — neither the organs of speech nor the ear 
affected either the pronunciation or the spelling of them. If we 
look down the columns of any English dictionary, we shall find 
these later Latin words in hundreds. Opinionem became 
opinion; f actionem, faction; orationem, oration; pungentem 
passed over in the form of pungent (though we had poignant 
already from the French) ; pauperem came in as pauper ; and 
separatum became separate. 

38. Latin of the Fourth Period. — (ii) This went on to 
such an extent in the sixteenth and the beginning of the 
seventeenth century, that one writer says of those who spoke 
and wrote this Latinised English, " If some of their mothers 
were alive, they were not able to tell what they say." And 
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) remarks: "If elegancy 
(= the use of Latin words) still proceedeth, and English 
pens maintain that stream we have of late observed to flow 
from many, we shall, within a few years, be fain to learn Latin 
to understand English, and a work will prove of equal facility 
in either." Mr Alexander Gill, an eminent schoolmaster, and 
the then head-master of St Paul's School, where, among his 
other pupils, he taught John Milton, wrote a book in 1619 on 
the English language ; and, among other remarks, he says : " 
harsh lips ! I now hear all around me such words as common, 
vices, envy, malice ; even virtue, study, justice, pity, mercy, com- 
passion, profit, commodity, colour, grace, favour, acceptance. 
But whither, I pray, in all the world, have you banished those 
words which our forefathers used for these new-fangled ones? 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 307 

Are our words to be executed like our citizens % " And he calls 
this fashion of using Latin words " the new mange in our speak- 
ing and writing." But the fashion went on growing ; and even 
uneducated people thought it a clever thing to use a Latin 
instead of a good English word. Samuel Rowlands, a writer in 
the seventeenth century, ridicules this affectation in a few lines 
of verse. He pretend? that he was out walking on the highroad, 
and met a countryman who wanted to know what o'clock it was, 
and whether he was on the right way to the town or village he 
was making for. The writer saw at once that he was a simple 
bumpkin ; and, when he heard that he had lost his way, he 
turned up his nose at the poor fellow, and ordered him to be off 
at once. Here are the lines : — - 

" As on the way I itinerated, 
A rural person I obviated, 
Interrogating time's translation, 
And of the passage demonstration. 
My apprehension did ingenious scan 
That he was merely a simplician ; 
So, when I saw he was extravagant, 
Unto the obscure vulgar consonant, 
I bade him vanish most promiscuously, 
And not contaminate my company." 

39. Latin of the Fourth Period.— (iii) What happened in the 
case of the Norman-French contribution, happened also in this. 
The language became saturated with these new Latin words, 
until it became satiated, then, as it were, disgusted, and would 
take* no more. Hundreds of 

" Long-tailed words in osity and ation" 

crowded into the English language ; but many of them were 
doomed to speedy expulsion. Thus words like discerptibility, 
supervacaneousness, septentrionality, ludibundness (love of sport), 
came in in crowds. The ver o intenerate tried to turn out soften ; 
and deturpate to take the place of defile. But good writers, like 
Bacon and Raleigh, took care to avoid the use of such terms, 
and to employ only those Latin words which gave them the 
power to indicate a new idea — a new meaning or a new shad§ 



308 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

of meaning. And when we come to the eighteenth century, we 
find that a writer like Addison would have shuddered at the 
very mention of such " inkhorn terms." 

40. Eye-Latin and Ear-Latin. — (i) One slight influence pro- 
duced by this spread of devotion to classical Latin — to the Latin 
of Cicero and Livy, of Horace and Virgil — was to alter the 
spelling of French words. We had already received — through 
the ear — the French words assaute, aventure, defaut, dette, vitaille, 
and others. But when our scholars became accustomed to the 
book-form of these words in Latin books, they gradually altered 
them — for the eye and ear — into assault, adventure, default, 
debt, and victuals. They went further. A large number of 
Latin words that already existed in the language in their 
Norman-French form (for we must not forget that French is 
Latin "with the ends bitten off" — changed by being spoken 
peculiarly and heard imperfectly) were reintroduced in their 
original Latin form. Thus we had caitiff from the Normans; 
but we reintroduced it in the shape of captive, which comes 
almost unaltered from the Latin captivum. Feat we had from 
the Normans; but the Latin factum, which provided the word, 
presented us with a second form of it in the word fact. Such 
words might be called Ear-Latin and Eye-Latin ; Mouth- 
Latin and Book-Latin ; Spoken Latin and Written Latin ; 
or Latin at second-hand and Latin at first-hand. 

41. Eye-Latin and Ear-Latin. — (ii) This coming in of the 
same word by two different doors — by the Eye and by the Ear — 
has given rise to the phenomenon of Doublets. The following 
is a list of Latin Doublets ; and it will be noticed that Latin l 
stands for Latin at first-hand — from books ; and Latin 2 for 
Latin at second-hand — through the Norman-French. 

Latin Doublets or Duplicates. 

Latin. Latin \ Latin 2 . 

Antecessorem Antecessor Ancestor. 

Benedictionem Benediction Benison. 

Cadentia (Low Lat. noun) Cadence Chance. 

Captivum Captive Caitiff. 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



309 



Conceptionem 


Conception 


Conceit. 


Consuetudinem 


Consuetude 


/Custom. 
1 Costume. 


Cophinum 


Coffin 


Coffer. 


Corpus (a body) 


Corpse 


Corps. 


Debitum (something owed) 


Debit 


Debt. 


Defectum (something wanting) 


Defect 


Defeat. 


Dilatare 


Dilate 


Delay. 


Exemplum 


Example 


Sample. 


Fabrica (a workshop) 


Fabric 


Forge. 


Factionem 


Faction 


Fashion. 


Factum 


Fact 


Feat. 


Fidelitatem 


Fidelity 


Fealty. 


Fragilem 


Fragile 


Frail. 


Gentilis (belonging to a gens or 


Gentile 


Gentle. 


family) 






Historia 


History 


Story. 


Hospitale 


Hospital 


Hotel. 


Lectionem 


Lection 


Lesson. 


Legalem 


Legal 


Loyal. 


Magister 


Master 


Mr. 


Majorem (greater) 


Major 


Mayor. 


Maledictionem 


Malediction 


Malison. 


Moneta 


Mint 


Money. 


Nutrimentum 


Nutriment 


Nourishment. 


Orationem 


Oration 


Orison (a prayer). 


Paganum (a dweller in a pagus 


Pagan 


Payne (a proper 


or country district) 




name). 


Particulam (a little part) 


Particle 


Parcel. 


Pauperem 


Pauper 


Poor. 


Penitentiam 


Penitence 


Penance. 


Persecutum 


Persecute 


Pursue. 


Potionem (a draught) 


Potion 


Poison. 


Pungentem 


Pungent 


Poignant. 


Quietum 


Quiet 


Coy. 


Radius 


Radius 


Ray. 


Regalem 


Regal 


Royal. 


Respectum 


Respect 


Respite. 


Securum 


Secure 


Sure. 


Seniorem 


Senior 


Sir. 


Separatum 


Separate 


Sever. 


Species 


Species 


Spice. 


Statum 


State 


Estate. 


Tractum 


Tract 


Trait. 


Traditionem 


Tradition 


Treason. 


Zelosum 


Zealous 


Jealous 



310 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

42. Remarks on the above Table. — The word benison, a 
blessing, may be contrasted with its opposite, malison, a curse. 
— Cadence is the falling of sounds ; chance the befalling of 
events. — A caitiff was at first a captive — then a person who 
made no proper defence, but allowed himself to be taken captive. 
— A corps is a body of troops. — The word sample is found, in 
older English, in the form of ensample. — A feat of arms is a 
deed or fact of arms, par excellence. — To understand how fragile 
became frail, we must pronounce the g hard, and notice how 
the hard guttural falls easily away — as in our own native words 
nail and hail, which formerly contained a hard g. — A major is 
a greater captain ; a mayor is a greater magistrate. — A magister 
means a bigger man — as opposed to a minister (from minus), a 
smaller man. — Moneta was the name given to a stamped coin, 
because these coins were first struck in the temple of Juno 
Moneta, Juno the Adviser or the Warner. (From the same 
root — mon — come monition, admonition; monitor; admonish.) 
— Shakespeare uses the word orison freely for prayer, as in the 
address of Hamlet to Ophelia, where he says, " Nymph, in thy 
orisons, be all my sins remembered ! " — Poor comes to us from 
an Old French word^owre/ the newer French is pauvre. — To 
understand the vanishing of the g sound in poignant, we must 
remember that the Eomans sounded it always hard. — Sever we 
get through separate, because p and v are both labials, and 
therefore easily interchangeable. — Treason — with its s instead 
of ti — may be compared with benison, malison, orison, poison, 
and reason. 

43. Conclusions from the above Table. — If we examine the 
table on page 231 with care, we shall come to several undeniable 
conclusions. (i) First, the words which come to us direct 
from Latin are found more in books than in everyday speech, 
(ii) Secondly, they are longer. The reason is that the words 
that have come through French have been worn down by the 
careless pronunciation of many generations — by that desire for 
ease in the pronouncing of words which characterises all 
languages, and have at last been compelled to take that form 
which was least difficult to pronounce, (iii) Thirdly, the two 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 311 

sets of words have, in each case, either (a) very different 
meanings, or (b) different shades of meaning. There is no like- 
ness of meaning in cadence and chance, except the common 
meaning oifall which belongs to the root from which they both 
spring. And the different shades of meaning between history 
and story, between regal and royal, between persecute and 
pursue, are also quite plainly marked, and are of the greatest 
use in composition. 

44. Latin Triplets. — Still more remarkable is the fact that 
there are in our language words that have made three appear- 
ances — one through Latin, one through Norman-French, and 
one through ordinary French. These seem to live quietly side 
by side in the language ; and no one asks by what claim they 
are here. They are useful : that is enough. These triplets are — 
regal, royal, and real ; legal, loyal, and leal ; fidelity, faith- 
fulness, 1 and fealty. The adjective real we no longer possess 
in the sense of royal, but Chaucer uses it ; and it still exists 
in the noun real-m. Leal is most used in Scotland, where it 
has a settled abode in the well-known phrase " the land o' the 
leal." 

45. Greek Doublets. — The same double introduction, which 
we noticed in the case of Latin words, takes place in regard to 
Greek words. It seems to have been forgotten that our English 
forms of them had been already given us by St Augustine and 
the Church, and a newer form of each was reintroduced. The 
following are a few examples : — 



Gkeek. 


Older Form. 


Later Form. 


Adamanta 2 (the untameable) 


Diamond 


Adamant. 


Balsainon 


Balm 


Balsam. 


Blasphemein (to speak ill of) 


Blame 


Blaspheme. 


Cheirourgon 2 (a worker with 


Chirurgeon 


Surgeon. 


the hand) 







1 The word faith is a true French word with an English ending— the end- 
ing th. Hence it is a hybrid. The old French word was fei — from the Latin 
fidem ; and the ending th was added to make it look more like truth, wealth, 
health, and other purely English words. 

2 The accusative or objective case is given in all these words. 



312 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Dacttilon (a finger) 


Date (the fruit) 


Dactyl 


Phanfcasia 


Fancy 


Phantasy, 


Phantasma (an appearance) 


Phantom 


Phantasm. 


Presbuteron (an elder) 


Priest 


Presbyter. 


Paralysis 


Palsy 


Paralysis. 


Scandalon 


Slander 


Scandal. 



It may be remarked of the word fancy, that, in Shakespeare's 
time, it meant love or imagination — 

" Tell me, where is fancy bred, 
Or in the heart, or in the head ? " 

It is now restricted to mean a lighter and less serious kind of 
imagination. Thus Ave say that Milton's 'Paradise Lost' is 
a work of imagination ; but that Moore's ' Lalla Rookh ' is a 
product of the poet's fancy. 

46. Characteristics of the Two Elements of English. — If 
we keep our attention fixed on the two chief elements in our 
language — the English element and the Latin element — the 
Teutonic and the Romance — we shall find some striking qualities 
manifest themselves. We have already said that whole sentences 
can be made containing only English words, while it is impossible 
to do this with Latin or other foreign words. Let us take two 
passages — one from a daily newspaper, and the other from 
Shakespeare : — 

(i) "We find the functions of such an official defined in the Act. He 
is to be a legally qualified medical practitioner of skill and experience, to 
inspect and report periodically on the sanitary condition of town or dis- 
trict ; to ascertain the existence of diseases, more especially epidemics 
increasing the rates of mortality, and to point out the existence of any 
nuisances or other local causes, which are likely to originate and maintain 
such diseases, and injuriously affect the health of the inhabitants of such 
town or district ; to take cognisance of the existence of any contagious 
disease, and to point out the most efficacious means for the ventilation of 
chapels, schools, registered lodging-houses, and other public buildings." 

In this passage, all the words in italics are either Latin or 
Greek. But, if the purely English words were left out, the 
sentence would fall into ruins — would become a mere rubbish - 
heap of words. It is the small particles that give life and 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 313 

motion to each sentence. They are the joints and hinges on 
which the whole sentence moves. — Let us now look at a passage 
from Shakespeare. It is from the speech of Macbeth, after he 
has made up his mind to murder Duncan : — 

(ii) " Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, 
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed ! — 
Is this a dagger which I see before me, 
The handle toward my hand ? Come ! let me clutch thee ! 
— I have thee not ; and yet I see thee still." 

In this passage there is only one Latin (or French) word — the 
word mistress. If Shakespeare had used the word lady, the 
passage would have been entirely English. — The passage from 
the newspaper deals with large generalisations; that from 
Shakespeare with individual acts and feelings — with things 
that come home " to the business and bosom " of man as man. 
Every master of the English language understands well the art 
of mingling the two elements — so as to obtain a fine effect ; and 
none better than writers like Shakespeare, Milton, Gray, and 
Tennyson. Shakespeare makes Antony say of Cleopatra :-— 

" Age cannot wither her ; nor custom stale 
Her infinite variety?' 

Here the French (or Latin) words custom and variety form a 
vivid contrast to the English verb stale, throw up its meaning 
and colour, and give it greater prominence. — Milton makes Eve 
say : — 

" I thither went 
With inexperienc'd thought, and laid me down 
On the green bank, to look into the clear 
Smooth lake, that to me seem'd another sky." 

Here the words inexperienced and clear give variety to the same- 
ness of the English words. — Gray, in the Elegy, has this verse: — 

" The breezy call of incense- breathing morn, 

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, 
The cock's shrill clarion or the echoing horn, 
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed." 



314 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Here incense, clarion, and echoing give a vivid colouring to the 
plainer hues of the homely English phrase's. — Tennyson, in the 
Lotos-Eaters, vi., writes : — 

" Dear is the memory of our wedded lives, 
And dear the last embraces of our wives 
And their warm tears : but all hath suffer' d change ; 
For surely now our household hearths are cold : 
Our sons inherit us : our looks are strange : 
And we should come like ghosts to trouble joy." 

Most powerful is the introduction of the French words suffered 
change, inherit, strange, and trouble joy ; for they give with 
painful force the contrast of the present state of desolation with 
the homely rest and happiness of the old abode, the love of the 
loving wives, the faithfulness of the stalwart sons. 

47. English and other Doublets. — We have already seen 
how, by the presentation of the same word at two different 
doors — the door of Latin and the door of French — we are in 
possession of a considerable number of doublets. But this 
phenomenon is not limited to Latin and French — is not solely 
due to the contributions we receive from these languages. We 
find it also within English itself ; and causes of the most 
different description bring about the same results. For various 
reasons, the English language is very rich in doublets. It 
possesses nearly five hundred pairs of such words. The language 
is all the richer for having them, as it is thereby enabled to 
give fuller and clearer expression to the different shades and 
delicate varieties of meaning in the mind. 

48. The sources of doublets are various. But five different 
causes seem chiefly to have operated in producing them. They 
are due to differences of pronunciation ; to differences in spel- 
ling ; to contractions for convenience in daily speech ; to 
differences in dialects ; and to the fact that many of them come 
from different languages. Let us look at a few examples of 
each. At bottom, however, all these differences will be found 
to resolve themselves into differences of pronunciation. They 
are either differences in the pronunciation of the same word by 



VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 31 S 

different tribes, or by men in different counties, who speak 
different dialects ; or by men of different nations. 

49. Differences in Pronunciation.— From this source we 
have parson and person (the parson being the person or repre- 
sentative of the Church) ; sop and soup ; task and tax (the sk 
has here become ks) ; thread and thrid ; ticket and etiquette ; 
sauce and souse (to steep in brine) ; squall and squeal. 

50. Differences in Spelling. — To and too are the same word 
— one being used as a preposition, the other as an adverb ; of 
and off, from and fro, are only different spellings, which repre- 
sent different functions or uses of the same word ; onion and 
union are the same word. An union 1 comes from the Latin 
unus, one, and it meant a large single pearl — a unique jewel ; 
the word was then applied to the plant, the head of which is of 
a pearl-shape. 

51. Contractions. — Contraction has been a pretty fruitful source 
of doublets in English. A long word has a syllable or two cut off ; 
or two or three are compressed into one. Thus example has 
become sample ; alone appears also as lone ; amend has been 
shortened into mend ; defend has been cut down into fend (as 
in fender); manoeuvre has been contracted into manure (both 
meaning originally to work ivith the hand) ; madam becomes 'm 
in yes 'm 2 ; and presbyter has been squeezed down into priest. 3 
Other examples of contraction are : capital and cattle ; chirur- 
geon (a worker with the hand) and surgeon; cholera and 
choler (from cholos, the Greek word for bile) ; disport and 
sport ; estate and state ; esquire and squire ; Egyptian and 

In Hamlet v. 2. 283, Shakespeare makes the King say — 

" The King shall drink to Hamlet's better breath ; 
And in the cup an union shall he throw." 

2 Professor Max Miiller gives this as the most remarkable instance of 
cutting down. The Latin mea domina became in French madame; in 
English ma'am; and, in the language of servants, 'm. 

8 Milton says, in one of his sonnets — 

" New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large." 

From the etymological point of view, the truth is just the other way 
about. Priest is old Presbyter writ small. 



316 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

gipsy; emmet and ant; gammon and game; grandfather 
and gaffer ; grandmother and gammer ; iota (the Greek 
letter i) and jot ; maximum and maxim ; mobile and mob ; 
mosquito and musket ; papa and pope ; periwig and wig ; 
poesy and posy; procurator and proctor; shallop and 
sloop ; unity and unit. It is quite evident that the above 
pairs of words, although in reality one, have very different 
meanings and uses. 

52. Difference of English Dialects. — Another source of 
doublets is to be found in the dialects of the English language. 
Almost every county in England has its own dialect ; but three 
main dialects stand out with great prominence in Cur older 
literature, and these are the Northern, the Midland, and the 
Southern. The grammar of these dialects was different ; their 
pronunciation of words was different — and this has given rise to 
a splitting of one word into two. In the North, we find a hard 
c, as in the caster of Lancaster ; in the Midlands, a soft c, as 
in Leicester ; in the South, a ch, as in "Winchester. We shall 
find similar differences of hardness and softness in ordinary 
words. Thus we find kirk and church ; canker and cancer ; 
canal and channel ; deck and thatch ; drill and thrill ; fan 
and van (in a winno wing-machine) ; fitch and vetch ; hale and 
whole; mash and mess; naught, nought, and not; pike, 
peak, and beak ; poke and pouch ; quid (a piece of tobacco for 
chewing) and cud (which means the thing clieived) ; reave 
and rob ; ridge and rig ; scabby and shabby ; scar and 
share ; screech and shriek ; shirt and skirt ; shuffle and 
scuffle ; spray and sprig ; wain and waggon — and other pairs. 
All of these are but different modes of pronouncing the same 
word in different parts of England ; but the genius of the 
language has taken advantage of these different ways of pro- 
nouncing to make different words out of them, and to give 
them different functions, meanings, and uses. 



HISTORY OF THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH. 327 

enemy, or 'fall' an axe upon his neck." Even in modern Eng- 
lish, almost any noun can be used as a verb. Thus we can say, 
' to paper a room " ; " to water the horses " ; " to black-ball a 
candidate " ; to " iron a shirt " or " a prisoner' ' ; "to toe the line." 
On the other hand, verbs may be used as nouns ; for we can 
speak of a icork, of a beautiful print, of a long ivalk, and so on. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH OP DIFFERENT PERIODS. 

1. Vocabulary and Grammar. — The oldest English or Anglo- 
Saxon differs from modern English both in vocabulary and in 
grammar — in the words it uses and in the inflexions it employs. 
The difference is often startling. And yet, if we look closely 
at the words and their dress, we shall most often find that the 
words which look so strange are the very words with which we 
are most familiar — words that we are in the habit of using every 
day ; and that it is their dress alone that is strange and anti- 
quated. The effect is the same as if we were to dress a modern 
man in the clothes worn a thousand years ago : the chances are 
that we should not be able to recognise even our dearest friend. 

2. A Specimen from Anglo-Saxon. — Let us take as an 
example a verse from the Anglo-Saxon version of one of the 
Gospels. The well-known verse, Luke ii. 40, runs thus in our 
oldest English version : — 

S<5j)lice daet cild weox, and waes gestrangod, wisddmes full ; and Godes 
gyfu waes on him. 

]S ow this looks like an extract from a foreign language ; but it 
is not : it is our own veritable mother-tongue. Every word is 
pure ordinary English ; it is the dress — the spelling and the 
inflexions — that is quaint and old-fashioned. This will be 
plain from a literal translation : — 

Soothly that child waxed, and was ptrengthened, wisdoms full (3=full of 
wisdom) ; and God's gift was on him. 



SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH OF DIFFERENT PERIODS. 32i> 

3. A Comparison. — This will become plainer if we compare 
the English of the Gospels as it was written in different periods 
of our language. The alteration in the meanings of words, the 
changes in the application of them, the variation in the use of 
phrases, the falling away of the inflexions — all these things 
become plain to the eye and to the mind as soon as we thought- 
fully compare the different versions. The following are extracts 
from the Anglo-Saxon version (995), the version of Wycliffe 
(1380) and of Tyndale (1526), of the passage in Luke ii. 
44, 45:— 



Anglo-Saxon. 

Wendon daet he on 
heora gefere waere, da" 
comon hig anes daeges 
faer, and hine sohton be- 
tsveox his magas and his 
cudan. 

Da hig hyne ne f undon, 
hig gewendon to Hierusa- 
lem. hine secende. 



Wycliffe. 

Forsothe thei ges- 
singe him to be in the 
felowschipe, camen 
the wey of a" day, and 
sou}ten him among 
his cosyns and know- 
en. 

And thei not fynd- 
inge, wenten a3en to 
Jerusalem, 
him. 



Tyndale. 

For they supposed he 
had bene in the company, 
they cam a days iorney, 
and sought hym amonge 
their kynsfolke and ac- 
quayntaunce. 

And founde hym not, 
they went backe agayne 
to Hierusalem, and sought 
hym. 



The literal translation of the Anglo-Saxon version is as 
follows : — 

(They) weened that he on their companionship were ( = was), when came 
they one day's faring, and him sought betwixt his relations and his couth 
(folk = acquaintances). 

When they him not found, they turned to Jerusalem, him seeking. 



4. The Lord's Prayer. — The same plan of comparison may 
be applied to the different versions of the Lord's Prayer that 
have come down to us ; and it will be seen from this compari- 
son that the greatest changes have taken place in the grammar, 
and especially in that part of the grammar which contains the 
inflexions. 



330 



HJSTOEY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



THE LOED'S PEAYER. 



1130. 

Rkign of Stephen. 

Fader ure, ]>e 
art on heofone. 

Sy gebletsod 
name )>in, 

Cume )nn rike. 

Si J:in wil swa 
swa on heofone 
and on eor)>an. 

Breod ure deg- 
wamlich geof us 
to daeg. 

And forgeof us 
ageltes ura swa 
swa we forgeofen 
agiltendum ur- 
um. 

And ne led us 
on costunge. 

Ac alys us fram 
yfele. Swa beo 
hit. 



1250. 

Reign 
of Henry III. 



Fadir ur, that 
es in hevene. 

Halud thi nam 
to nevene ; 

Thou do as thi 
rich rike ; 

Thi will on erd 
be wrought, eek 
as it is wrought 
in heven ay. 

Ur ilk day 
brede give us to 
day. 

Forgive thou 
all us dettes urs, 
als we forgive till 
ur detturs. 

And ledde us 
in na fandung. 

But sculd us 
fra ivel thing. 
Amen. 



1380. 

Wycliffe's 
Version. 

Our Fadir, that 
art in hevenys, 

Halewid be thi 
name ; 

Thi kingdom 
come to ; 

Be thi wil done 
in erthe, as in 
hevene. 

Give to us this 
day oure breed 
ovir othir sub- 
staunce, 

And forgive to 
us our dettis, as 
we forgiven to 
oure dettouris. 

And lede us 
not into tempta- 
cioun ; 

But delyvere 
us from yvel. 
Amen. 



1526. 

Tyndaxe's 
Version. 

Our Father, 
which art in 
heaven ; 

Halowed be 
thy name ; 

Let thy king- 
dom come ; 

Thy will be ful- 
filled as well in 
earth as it is in 
heven. 

Geve us this 
day ur dayly 
bred, 

And forgeve us 
oure dettes as we 
forgeve ur det- 
ters. 

And leade us 
not into tempta- 
tion, 

But delyver us 
from evyll. For 
thyne is the kyng 
dom, and the 
power, and the 
glorye, for ever. 
Amen. 



It will be observed that Wycliffe's version contains five Ko- 
mance terms — substaunce, dettis, dettouris, temptacioun, and 
delyvere. 

5. Oldest English and Early English. — The following is a 
short passage from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under date 
1137 : first, in the Anglo-Saxon form; second, in Early Eng- 
lish, or — as it has sometimes been called — Broken Saxon; 



SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH OF DIFFERENT PERIODS. 332 

third, in modern English. The breaking-down of the gram- 
mar becomes still more strikingly evident from this close 
juxtaposition. 

(i) Hi swencton pa" wreccan menn 

(ii) Hi swencten the wrecce men 

(iii) They swinked (harassed) the wretched men 

(i) |>aes landes mid castel-weorcum. 
(ii) Of-the-land mid castel-weorces. 
(iii) Of the land with castle-works. 

(i) Da pa castelas waeron gemacod, 
(ii) Tha the castles waren maked, 
(iii) When the castles were made, 

(i) pa fyldon hi hi mid yfelum mannum. 
(ii) tha fylden hi hi mid yvele men. 

(iii) then filled they them with evil men. 

6. Comparisons of Words and Inflexions. — Let us take a 
few of the most prominent words in our language, and observe 
the changes that have fallen upon them since they made their 
appearance in our island in the fifth century. These changes 
will be best seen by displaying them in columns : — 



Anglo-Saxon. 


Early English. 


Middle English. 


Modern English. 


heom. 


to heom. 


to hem. 


to them. 


heo. 


heo. 


ho, scho. 


she. 


sweostrum. 


to the swestres. 


to the swistren. 


to the sisters. 


geboren. 


gebore. 


ibore. 


born. 


lufigende. 


lufigend. 


lovand. 


loving. 


weoxon. 


woxen. 


wexide. 


waxed. 



7. Conclusions from the above Comparisons. — We can now 

draw several conclusions from the comparisons we have made 
of the passages given from different periods of the language. 
These conclusions relate chiefly to verbs and nouns ; and they 



332 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



may become useful as a key to enable us to judge to what 
period in the history of our language a passage presented to us 
must belong. If we find such and such marks, the language is 
Anglo-Saxon ; if other marks, it is Early English ; and so on. 



I.— MARKS OF ANGLO- 
SAXON. 

"Verbs. 

Infinitive in an. 

Pres. part, in ende. 

Past part, with ge. 

3d plural pres. in ath. 

3d plural past in on. 

Plural of imperatives 

in ath. 

Nouns. 
Plurals in an, as, or a. 
Dative plural in um. 



II.— MARKS OF EARLY 
ENGLISH (1100-1250). 

Verbs. 

Infin. in en or e. 

Pres. part, in ind. 

ge of past part, turned 

into i or y. 

3d plural in en. 



Nouns. 
Plural in es. 
Dative plural in es. 



III.— MARKS OF MID- 
DLE ENGLISH (1250-1485). 

Verbs. 
Infin. with to (the en 
was dropped about 
1400). 
Pres. part, in inge. 
3d plural in en. 
Imperative in eth. 
Plurals in es (separate 
syllable). 

Nouns. 
Possessives in es (sepa- 
rate syllable). 



8. The English of the Thirteenth Century. — In this century 
there was a great breaking-down and stripping-off of inflexions. 
This is seen in the Ornmlum of Orm, a canon of the Order of 
St Augustine, whose English is nearly as flexionless as that of 
Chaucer, although about a century and a half before him. Orm 
has also the peculiarity of always doubling a consonant after a 
short vowel. Thus, in his introduction, he says : — 

" piss boc iss nemmnedd Orrmulum 
Forr J)i f»att Orrm itt wrohhte." 

That is, "This book is named Ormulum, for the (reason) that 
Orm wrought it." The absence of inflexions is probably due 
to the fact that the book is written in the East-Midland dialect. 
But, in a song called "The Story of Genesis and Exodus," 
written about 1250, we find a greater number of inflexions. 
Thus we read : — 

" Hunger wex in lond Chanaan ; 
And his x sunes Jacob for-San 



SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH OF DIFFERENT PERIODS. 333 

Sente in to Egypt to bringen coren ; 
He bilefe at hom oe was gungest boren." 

That is, " Hunger waxed (increased) in the land of Canaan ; 
and Jacob for that (reason) sent his ten sons into Egypt to 
bring corn : he remained at home that was youngest born." 

9. The English of the Fourteenth Century. — The four 
greatest writers of the fourteenth century are — in verse, 
Chaucer and Langlande; and in prose, Mandeville and 
Wy cliffy The inflexions continue to drop off; and, in 
Chaucer at least, a larger number of French words appear. 
Chaucer also writes in an elaborate verse -measure that forms 
a striking contrast to the homely rhythms of Langlande. Thus, 
in the " Man of Lawes Tale," we have the verse : — 

" queenes, lyvynge in prosperitee, 
Duchesses, and ladyes everichone, 
Haveth som routhe on hir adversite'e ; 
An emperoures doughter stant allone ; 
She hath no wight to whom to make hir mone. 
blood roial ! that stondest in this drede 
Fer ben thy frende's at thy grete nede ! " 

Here, with the exception of the imperative in Haveth som 
routhe ( = have some pity), stant, and ben ( = are), the grammar 
of Chaucer is very near the grammar of to-day. How different 
this is from the simple English of Langlande ! He is speaking 
of the great storm of wind that blew on January 15, 1362 : — 

" Piries and Plomtres weore passchet to f>e grounde, 
In ensaumple to Men pat we scholde do J>e bettre, 
Beches and brode okes weore blowen to j)e eorpe." 

Here it is the spelling of Langlande's English that differs most 
from modern English, and not the grammar. — Much the same 
may be said of the style of Wycliffe (1324-1384) and of Mande- 
ville (1300-1372). In Wycliffe's version of the Gospel of Mark, 
v. 26, he speaks of a woman "that hadde sufTride many thingis 
of ful many lechis (doctors), and spendid alle hir thingis ; and 
no -thing profitide." Sir John Mandeville's English keeps 
many old inflexions and spellings ; but is, in other respects, 
modern enough. Speaking of Mahomet, he says : " And 3ee 



334 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

schulle understands that Machamete was born in Arabye, that 
was first a pore knave that kept cameles, that wenten with 
marchantes for marchandise." Knave for boy, and iventen for 
went are the two chief differences — the one in the use of words, 
the other in grammar — that distinguish this piece of Mande- 
ville's English from our modern speech. 

10. The English of the Sixteenth Century. — This, which is 
also called Tudor-English, differs as regards grammar hardly at 
all from the English of the nineteenth century. This becomes 
plain from a passage from one of Latimer's sermons (1490-1555), 
" a book which gives a faithful picture of the manners, thoughts, 
and events of the period." "My father," he writes, "was a 
yeoman, and had no lands of his own, only he had a farm of 
three or four pound a year at the uttermost, and hereupon he 
tilled so much as kept half a dozen men. He had walk for a 
hundred sheep ; and my mother milked thirty kine." In this 
passage, it is only the old-fashionedness, homeliness, and quaint- 
ness of the English — not its grammar — that makes us feel that 
it was not written in our own times. When Eidley, the fellow- 
martyr of Latimer, stood at the stake, he said, " I commit our 
cause to Almighty God, which shall indifferently judge all." 
Here he used indifferently in the sense of impartially — that is, 
in the sense of making no difference between parties ; and this 
is one among a very large number of instances of Latin words, 
when they had not been long in our language, still retaining the 
older Latin meaning. 

11. The English of the Bible (i). — The version of the Bible 
which wa at present use was made in 1611 ; and we might 
therefore suppose that it is written in seventeenth-century Eng- 
lish. But this is not the case. The translators were com- 
manded by James I. to "follow the Bishops' Bible"; and the 
Bishops' Bible was itself founded on the " Great Bible," which 
was published in 1539. But the Great Bible is itself only a 
revision of Tyndale's, part of which appeared as early as 1526. 
"When we are reading the Bible, therefore, we are reading Eng- 
lish of the sixteenth century, and, to a large extent, of the early 
part of that century. It is true that successive generations of 



MODERN ENGLISH. 



341 



sun. When we import articles or produce from abroad, we in 
general import the native name along with the thing. Hence 
it is that we have guano, maize, and tomato from the two 
Americas ; coffee, cotton, and tamarind from Arabia ; tea, 
congou, and nankeen from China ; calico, chintz, and rupee 
from Hindostan ; bamboo, gamboge, and sago from the Malay 
Peninsula ; lemon, musk, and orange from Persia ; boomerang 
and kangaroo from Australia ; chibouk, ottoman, and tulip 
from Turkey. The following are lists of these foreign words ; 
and they are worth examining with the greatest minuteness : — 





African Dialects. 




Baobab. 


Gnu. 


Karoo. 


Quagga. 


Canary. 


Gorilla. 


Kraal. 


Zebra. 


Chimpanzee. 


Guinea. 


Oasis. 






American Tongues. 




Alpaca. 


Condor. 


Maize. 


Eacoon. 


Buccaneer. 


Guano. 


Manioc. 


Skunk. 


Cacique. 


Hammock. 


Moccasin. 


Squaw. 


Cannibal. 


Jaguar. 


Mustang. 


Tapioca. 


Canoe. 


Jalap. 


Opossum. 


Tobacco. 


Caoutchouc. 


Jerked (beef). 


Pampas. 


Tomahawk. 


Cayman. 


Llama. 


Pemmican. 


Tomato. 


Chocolate. 


Mahogany. 


Potato. 


Wigwam, 




Arabic. 




(The word al means the. 


Thus alcohol = the 


spirit.) 


Admiral (Milton 


Azure. 


Harem. 


Salaam. 


writes am- 


Caliph. 


Hookah. 


Senna. 


mired. 


Carat. 


Koran (or Al- 


Sherbet. 


Alcohol. 


Chemistry. 


coran). 


Shrub (the 


Alcove. 


Cipher 


Lute. 


drink). 


Alembic. 


Civet. 


Magazine. 


Simoom. 


Algebra. 


Coffee. 


Mattress. 


Sirocco. 


Alkali. - 


Cotton. 


Minaret. 


Sofa. 


Amber. 


Crimson. 


Mohair. 


Sultan. 


Arrack. 


Dragoman. 


Monsoon. 


Syrup. 


Arsenal. 


Elixir. 


Mosque. 


Talisman. 


Artichoke. 


Emir. 


Mufti. 


Tamarind. 


Assassin. 


Fakir. 


Nabob. 


Tariff. 


Assegai. 


Felucca. 


Nadir. 


Vizier. 


Attar. 


Gazelle. 


Naphtha. 


Zenith. 


Azimuth. 


Giraffe. 


Saffron. 


Zero. 



542 



HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



Bohea. 


Hyson. 




Nankeen. 


Souchong. 


China. 


Joss. 




Pekoe. 


Tea. 


Congou. 


Junk. 




Silk. 


Typhoon. 






Hindu. 




Avatar. 


Cowrie, 




Pagoda. 


Ryot 


Banyan. 


Durbar. 




Palanquin. 


Sepoy. 


Brahmin. 


Jungle. 




Pariah. 


Shampoo, 


Bungalow. 


Lac (of rupees). 


Punch. 


Sugar. 


Calico. 


Loot. 




Pundit. 


Suttee. 


Chintz. 


Mulligatawny. 


Eajah. 


Thug. 


Coolie. 


Musk. 




Rupee. 


Toddy. 




Hungarian. 




Hussar. 


Sabre. 




Shako. 


Tokay. 






Malay. 




Amuck. 


Cassowary 




Gong. 


Orang-outang, 


Bamboo. 


Cockatoo. 




Gutta-percha. 


Rattan. 


Bantam. 


Dugong. 




Mandarin. 


Sago. 


Caddy. 


Gamboge. 




Mango. 


Upas 






Persian. 




Awning. 


Dervish. 




Jasmine. 


Pasha. 


Bazaar. 


Divan. 




Lac (a gum). 


Rook 


Bashaw. 


Firman. 




Lemon. 


Saraband. 


Caravan. 


Hazard. 




Lilac. 


Sash. 


Check. 


Horde. 




Lime (the fruit). 


Scimitar. 


Checkmate. 


Houri. 




Musk. 


Shawl. 


Chess. 


Jar. 




Orange. 


Taffeta. 


Curry. 


Jackal. 




Paradise. 


Turban. 



Polynesian Dialects. 
Boomerang. Kangaroo. Taboo. 

Portuguese. 



Tattoo. 



Albatross. 


Cocoa-nut. 


Lasso. 


Molasses. 


Caste. 


Commodore. Marmalade. 


Palaver. 


Cobra. 


Fetish. 


Moidore. 

Russian. 


Port ( = Oporto), 


Czar. 


Knout. 


Rouble. 


Ukase. 


Drosky. 


Morse. 


Steppe. 

Tartar. 
Khan. 

Turkish. 


Verst. 


Bey. 


Chouse. 


Kiosk. 


Tulip. 


Caftan. 


Dey. 


Odalisque. 


Yashmak. 


Chibouk. 


Janissary. 


Ottoman. 


Yataghan, 



PART IV. 

OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 



. CHAPTER I. 

OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

l v Literature. — The history of English Literature is, in its 
external aspect, an account of the best books in prose and in 
verse that have been written by English men and English 
women; and this account begins with a poem brought over 
from the Continent by our countrymen in the fifth century, and 
comes down to the time in which we live. It covers, therefore, 
a period of nearly fourteen hundred years. 

2. The Distribution of Literature. — We must not suppose 
that literature has always existed in the form of printed books. 
Literature is a living thing — a living outcome of the living 
mind; and there are many ways in which it has been dis- 
tributed to other human beings. The oldest way is, of course, 
by one person repeating a poem or other literary composition 
he has made to another; and thus literature is stored away, 
not upon book - shelves, but in the memory of living men. 
Homer's poems are said to have been preserved in this way 
to the Greeks for five hundred years. Father chanted them 
to son ; the sons to their sons ; and so on from generation to 
generation. The next way of distributing literature is by the 
aid of signs called letters made upon leaves, flattened reeds, 
parchment, or the inner bark of trees. The next is by the 
help of writing upon paper. The last is by the aid of type 
upon paper. This has existed in England for more than four 
hundred years — since the year 1474; and thus it is that our 
libraries contain many hundreds of thousands of valuable books. 



850 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

For the same reason is it, most probably, that as our power of 
retaining the substance and multiplying the copies of books has 
grown stronger, our living memories have grown weaker. This 
defect can be remedied only by education — that is, by training 
the memories of the young. While we possess so many printed 
books, it must not be forgotten that many valuable works exist 
still in manuscript — written either upon paper or on parchment. 
3. Verse, the earliest form of Literature. — It is a remarkable 
fact that the earliest kind of composition, in all languages is in 
the form of Verse. The oldest books, too, are those which are 
written in verse. Thus Homer's poems are the oldest literary- 
work of Greece ; the Sagas are the oldest productions of Scan- 
dinavian literature ; and the Beowulf is the oldest piece of 
literature produced by the Anglo-Saxon race. It is also from 
the strong creative power and the lively inventions of poets 
that we are even now supplied with new thoughts and new 
language — that the most vivid words and phrases come into the 
language ; just as it is the ranges of high mountains that send 
down to the plains the ever fresh soil that gives to them theii 
unending fertility. And thus it happens that our present Eng- 
lish speech is full of words and phrases that have found theii 
way into the most ordinary conversation from the writings of oui 
great poets — and especially from the writings of our greatest 
poet, Shakespeare. The fact that the life of prose depends 
for its supplies on the creative minds of poets has been well 
expressed by an American writer : — 

" I looked upon a plain of green, 

Which some one called the Land of Prose, 
Where many living things were seen 
In movement or repose. 

I looked upon a stately hill 

That well was named the Mount of Song, 

Where golden shadows dwelt at will, 
The woods and streams among. 

But most this fact my wonder bred 
(Though known by all the nobly wise), 

It was the mountain stream that fed 
That fair green plain's amenities." 



OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 35 1 

*. Our oldest English Poetry. — The verse written by our 
old English writers was very different in form from the verse 
as it appears in the writings of Tennyson, or Browning, or 
Matthew Arnold. The old English or Anglo-Saxon writers 
used a kind of rhyme called head -rhyme or alliteration; 
while, from the fourteenth century downwards, our poets have 
always employed end-rhyme in their verses. 

"Zightly down leaping he Zoosened his helmet." 

Such was the rough old English form. At least three words 
in each long line were alliterative — two in the first half, and 
one in the second. Metaphorical phrases were common, such 
as war-adder for arrow, war-shirts for armour, whale' '»-path or 
swan-road for the sea, ivave-horse for a ship, tree-wright for 
carpenter. Different statements of ' the same fact, different 
phrases for the same thing — what are called parallelisms in 
Hebrew poetry — as in the line — • 

" Then saw they the sea head-lands — the windy walls,*" 

were also in common use among our oldest English poets. 

5. Beowulf. — The Beowulf is the oldest poem in the 
English language. It is our " old English epic " ; and, like 
much of our ancient verse, it is a war poem. The author of 
it is unknown. It was probably composed in the fifth century 
— not in England, but on the Continent — and brought over to 
this island — not on paper or on parchment — but in the mem- 
ories of the old Jutish or Saxon vikings or warriors. It was 
not written down at all, even in England, till the end of the, 
ninth century, and then, probably, by a monk of Northum- 
bria. It tells among other things the story of how Beowulf 
sailed from Sweden to the help of Hrothgar, a king in Jut- 
land, whose life was made miserable by a monster — half man, 
half fiend — named Grendel. Eor about twelve years this mon- 
ster had been in the habit of creeping up to the banqueting- 
hall of King Hrothgar, seizing upon his thanes, carrying them 
off, and devouring them. Beowulf attacks and overcomes the 
dragon, which is mortally wounded, and flees away to die. The 



352 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

poem belongs both to the German and to the English literature; 
for it is written in a Continental English, which is somewhat 
different from the English of our own island. But its literary 
shape is, as has been said, due to a Christian writer of North- 
umbria ; and therefore its written or printed form — as it exists 
at present — is not German, but English. Parts of this poem 
were often chanted at the feasts of warriors, where all sang in 
turn as they sat after dinner over their cups of mead round the 
massive oaken table. The poem consists of 3184 lines, the 
rhymes of which are solely alliterative. 

6. The First Native English Poem. — The Beowulf came to 
us from the Continent; the first native English poem was pro- 
duced in Yorkshire. On the dark wind-swept cliff which rises 
above the little land-locked harbour of "Whitby, stand the ruins 
of an ancient and once famous abbey. The head of this re- 
ligious house was the Abbess Hild or Hilda : and there was a 
secular priest in it, — a very shy retiring man, who looked after 
the cattle of the monks, and whose name was Caedmon. To 
this man came the gift of song, but somewhat late in life. 
And it came in this wise. One night, after a feast, singing 
began, and each of those seated at the table was to sing in his 
turn. Caedmon was very nervous — felt he could not sing. 
Fear overcame his heart, and he stole quietly away from the 
table before the turn could come to him. He crept off to 
the cowshed, lay down on the straw and fell asleep. He 
dreamed a dream ; and, in his dream, there came to him a 
voice : " Caedmon, sing me a song ! " But Caedmon answered : 
"I cannot sing; it was for this cause that I had to leave 
the feast." " But you must and shall sing ! " " What must I 
sing, then 1 " he replied. " Sing the beginning of created 
things ! " said the vision ; and forthwith Caedmon sang some 
lines in his sleep, about God and the creation of the world. 
When he awoke, he remembered some of the lines that had 
come to him in sleep, and, being brought before Hilda, he 
recited them to her. The Abbess thought that this wonderful 
gift, which had come to him so suddenly, mast have come from 
God, received him into the monastery, made him a monk, and 



OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 353 

had him taught sacred history. " All this Caedmon, by re- 
membering, and, like a clean animal, ruminating, turned into 
sweetest verse." His poetical works consist of a metrical para- 
phrase of the Old and the New Testament. It was written 
about the year 670 ; and he died in 680. It was read and 
re-read in manuscript for many centuries, but it was not printed 
in a book until the year 1655. 

7. The War-Poetry of England. — There were many poems 
about battles, written both in Xorthumbria and in the south 
of England ; but it was only in the south that these war-songs 
were committed to writing ; and of these written songs there are 
only two that survive up to the present day. These are the 
Song of Brunanburg, and the Song of the Fight at Maldon. 
The first belongs to the date 938; the second to 991. The 
Song of Brunanburg was inscribed in the Saxon Chronicle — 
a current narrative of events, written chiefly by monks, from the 
ninth century to the end of the reign of Stephen. The song 
tells the story of the fight of King Athelstan with Anlaf the 
Dane. It tells how five young kings and seven earls of 
Anlaf s host fell on the field of battle, and lay there " quieted 
by swords," while their fellow- Northmen fled, and left their 
friends and comrades to "the screamers of war — the black raven, 
the eagle, the greedy battle-hawk, and the grey wolf in the 
wood." The Song of the Fight at Maldon tells us of the 
heroic deeds and death of Byrhtnoth, an ealdorman of ISTorth- 
umbria, in battle against the Danes at Maldon, in Essex. 
The speeches of the chiefs are given ; the single combats between 
heroes described ; and, as in Homer, the names and genealogies 
of the foremost men are brought into the verse. 

8. The First English Prose. — The first writer of English 
prose was Baeda, or, as he is generally called, the Venerable 
Bede. He was born in the year 672 at Monkwearmouth, a 
small town at the mouth of the river AVear, and was, like 
Caedmon, a native of the kingdom of Northumbria. He 
spent most of his life at the famous monastery of Jarrow-on- 
Tyne. He spent his life in writing. His works, which were 
written in Latin, rose to the number of forty-five ; his chief 



B54 HISTORY OB ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

work being an Ecclesiastical History. But though Latin 
was the tongue in which he wrote his books, he wrote one book 
in English ; and he may therefore be fairly considered the first 
writer of English prose. This book was a Translation of the 
Gospel of St John — a work which he laboured at until the 
very moment of his death. His disciple Cuthbert tells the 
story of his last hours. " Write quickly ! " said Baeda to his 
scribe, for he felt that his end could not be far off. When the 
last day came, all his scholars stood around his bed. " There 
is still one chapter wanting, Master," said the scribe; "it is 
hard for thee to think and to speak." " It must be done," said 
Baeda; " take thy pen and write quickly." So through the long- 
day they wrote— scribe succeeding scribe ; and when the shades 
of evening were coming on, the young writer looked up from 
his task and said, " There is yet one sentence to write, dear 
Master." " Write it quickly ! " Presently the writer, looking 
up with joy, said, " It is finished ! " " Thou sayest truth," 
replied the weary old man; "it is finished: all is finished." 
Quietly he sank back upon his pillow, and, with a psalm of 
praise upon his lips, gently yielded up to God his latest breath. 
It is a great pity that this translation — the first piece of 
prose in our language — is utterly lost, No MS. of it is at 
present known to be in existence. 

9. The Father of English Prose. — Eor several centuries, up 
to the year 866, the valleys and shores of Northumbria were 
the homes of learning and literature. But a change was not 
long in coming. Horde after horde of Danes swept do'wn upon 
the coasts, ravaged the monasteries, burnt the books — after 
stripping the beautiful bindings of the gold, silver, and precious 
stones which decorated them — killed or drove away the monks, 
and made life, property, and thought insecure all along that once 
peaceful and industrious coast. Literature, then, was forced 
to desert the monasteries of Northumbria, and to seek for a 
home in the south — in Wessex, the kingdom over which Alfred 
the Great reigned for more than thirty years. The capital of 
Wessex was Winchester ; and an able writer says : " As 



OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 355 

Whitby is the cradle of English poetry, so is Winchester of 
English prose." King Alfred founded colleges, invited to 
England men of learning from abroad, and presided over a 
school for the sons of his nobles in his own Court. He himself 
wrote many books, or rather, he translated the most famous 
Latin books of his time into English. He translated into the 
English of Wessex, for example, the ' Ecclesiastical History ' 
of Baeda; the 'History of Orosius,' into which he inserted 
geographical chapters of his own ; and the ' Consolations of 
Philosophy,' by the famous Roman writer, Boethius. In these 
books he gave to his people, in their own tongue, the best 
existing works on history,' geography, and philosophy. 

10. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. — The greatest prose-work 
of the oldest English, or purely Saxon, literature, is a work — 
not by one person, but by several authors. It is the historical 
work which is known as The Saxon Chronicle. It seems to 
have been begun about the middle of the ninth century ; and 
it was continued, with breaks now and then, down to 1154 — ■ 
the year of the death of Stephen and the accession of Henry II. 
It was written by a series of successive writers, all of whom 
were monks ; but Alfred himself is said to have contributed to 
it a narrative of his own wars with the Danes. The Chronicle 
is found in seven separate forms, each named after the monas- 
tery in which it was written. It was the newspaper, the 
annals, and the history of the nation. " It is the first history 
of any Teutonic people in their own language ; it is the earliest 
and most venerable monument of English prose." This Chron- 
icle possesses for us a twofold value. It is a valuable store- 
house of historical facts ; and it is also a storehouse of speci- 
mens of the different states of the English language — as regards 
both words and grammar — from the eighth down to the 
twelfth century. 

11. Layamon's Brut. — Layamon was a native of Worcester- 
shire, and a priest of Ernley on the Severn. He translated, 
about the year 1205, a poem called Brut, from the French of 
a monkish writer named Master Wace. Wace's work itself is 



356 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

little more than a translation of parts of a famous " Chronicle 
or History of the Britons," written in Latin by Geoffrey of 
Monmouth, who was Bishop of St Asaph in 1152. But 
Geoffrey himself professed only to have translated from a chron- 
icle in the British or Celtic tongue, called the " Chronicle of the 
Kings of Britain," which was found in Brittany — long the home 
of most of the stories, traditions, and fables about the old Brit- 
ish Kings and their great deeds. Layamon's poem called the 
" Brut " is a metrical chronicle of Britain from the landing of 
Brutus to the death of King Cadwallader, about the end of the 
seventh century. Brutus was supposed to be a great-grandson 
of iEneas, who sailed west and west till he came to Great 
Britain, where he settled with his followers. — This metrical 
chronicle is written in the dialect of the West of England ; and 
it shows everywhere a breaking down of the grammatical forms 
of the oldest English, as we find it in the Anglo-Saxon Chron- 
icle. In fact, between the landing of the Normans and the 
fourteenth century, two things may be noted : first, that during 
this time — that is, for three centuries — the inflections of the 
oldest English are gradually and surely stripped off; and, sec- 
ondly, that there is little or no original English literature given 
to the country, but that by far the greater part consists chiefly 
of translations from French or from Latin. 

12. Orm's Ormulum. — Less than half a century after Lay- 
amon's Brut appeared a poem called the Ormulum, by a monk 
of the name of Orm or Ormin. It was probably written 
about the year 1154. Orm was a monk of the order of St 
Augustine, and his book consists of a series of religious poems. 
It is the oldest, purest, and most valuable specimen of thirteenth- 
century English, and it is also remarkable for its peculiar 
spelling. It is written in the purest English, and not five 
French words are to be found in the whole poem of twenty 
thousand short lines. Orm, in his spelling, doubles every con- 
sonant that has a short vowel before it ; and he writes pann for 
pan, but pan for pane. The following is a specimen of his 
poem : — 



OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 357 

Ice hafe wennd inntill Ennglissh I have wended (turned) into English 

Goddspelless hallghe lare, Gospel's holy lore, 

Affterr thatt little witt tatt me After the Tittle wit that me 

Min Drihhtin hafethth lenedd. My Lord hath lent. 

Other famous writers of English between this time and the 
appearance of Chaucer were Robert of Gloucester and Robert 
of Brunne, both of whom wrote Chronicles of England in 

verse. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The opening of the fourteenth century saw the death of 
the great and able king, Edward L, the "Hammer of the 
Scots," the " Keeper of his word." The century itself — a most 
eventful period — witnessed the feeble and disastrous reign of 
Edward II. ; the long and prosperous rule — for fifty years — of 
Edward III. ; the troubled times of Richard II., who exhibited 
almost a repetition of the faults of Edward II. ; and the 
appearance of a new and powerful dynasty — the House of 
Lancaster — in the person of the able and ambitious Henry IV. 
This century saw also many striking events, and many still 
more striking changes. It beheld the welding of the Saxon and 
the Norman elements into one — chiefly through the Erench 
wars ; the final triumph of the English language over French 
in 1362; the frequent coming of the Black Death; the vic- 
tories of Crecy and Poitiers ; it learned the universal use 
of the mariner's compass; it witnessed two kings — of France 
and of Scotland — prisoners in London; great changes in the 
condition of labourers; the invention of gunpowder in 1340; 
the rise of English commerce under Edward III. ; and every- 
where in England the rising up of new powers and new ideas. 

2. The first prose-writer in this century is Sir John Mande- 
ville (who has been called the " Father of English Prose"). 
King Alfred has also been called by this name ; but as the 
English written by Alfred was very different from that written 



THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 359 

by Mandeville, — the latter containing a large admixture of 
French and of Latin words, both writers are deserving of the 
epithet. The most influential prose-writer was John Wyclif, 
who was, in fact, the first English Reformer of the Church. 
In poetry, two writers stand opposite each other in striking 
contrast — Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langlande, the first 
writing in courtly " King's English " in end-rhyme, and with 
the fullest inspirations from the literatures of France and Italy, 
the latter writing in head-rhyme, and — though using more 
French words than Chaucer — with a style that was always 
homely, plain, and pedestrian John G-ower, in Kent, and 
John Barbour, in Scotland, are also noteworthy poets in this 
century. The English language reached a high state of polish, 
power, and freedom in this period; and the sweetness and 
music of Chaucer's verse are still unsurpassed by modern poets. 
The sentences of the prose-writers of this century are long, ■ 
clumsy, and somewhat helpless ; bat the sweet homely English 
rhythm exists in many of them, and was continued, through 
Wyclif 's version, down into our translation of the Bible in 
1611. 

3. Sir John Mandeville, (1300-1372), " the first prose- writer in 
formed English," was born at St Albans, in Hertfordshire, in the year 
1300. He was a physician; but, in the year 1322, he set out on a 
journey to the East ; was away from home for more than thirty years, 
and died at Liege, in Belgium, in 1372. He wrote his travels first 
in Latin, next in French, and then turned them into English, "that 
every man of my nation may understand it." The book is a kind of 
guide-book to the Holy Land ; but the writer himself went much 
further east — reached Cathay or China, in fact. He introduced a 
large number of French words into our speech, such as cause, con- 
trary, discover, quantity, and' many hundred others. His works were 
much admired, read, and copied; indeed, hundreds of manuscript 
copies of his book were made. There are nineteen still in the Brit- 
ish Museum. The book was not printed till the year 1499 — that is, 
twenty-five years after printing was introduced into this country. 
Many of the Old English inflexions still survive in his style." Thua 
he says : " Machamete was born in Arabye, that was a pore knave 
(boy) that kepte cameles that wenten with marchantes for mar- 
chandise." 



iJ60 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

4. John Wyclif (his name is spelled in about forty different 
ways) — 1324-1384 — was born at Hipswell, near Kichmond, in York- 
shire, in the year 1324, and died at the vicarage of Lutterworth, in* 
Leicestershire, in 1384. His fame rests on two bases — his efforts as 
a reformer of the abuses of the Church, and his complete translation 
of the Bible. This work was finished in 1383, just one year before 
his death. But the translation was not done by himself alone ; the 
larger part of the Old Testament version seems to have been made 
by Nicholas de Hereford. Though often copied in manuscript, it 
was not printed for several centuries. Wyclif 's New Testament was 
printed in 1731, and the Old Testament not until the year 1850. 
But the words and the style of his translation, which was read and 
re-read by hundreds of thoughtful men, were of real and permanent 
3ervxje in fixing the language in the form in which we now find it. 



o. John Gower (1325-1408) was a country gentleman of Kent. 
As Mandeville wrote his travels in three languages, so did Gower his 
poems. Almost all educated persons in the fourteenth century could 
read and write with tolerable and with almost equal ease, English, 
French, and Latin. His three poems are the Speculum Meditantis 
("Th« Mirror of the Thoughtful Man"), in French; the Vox 
Clamantis (" Voice of One Crying "), in Latin ; and Confessio 
Amaixtis ("The Lover's Confession"), in English. No manuscript 
of the first work is known to exist. He was buried in St Saviour's, 
South wark, where his effigy is still to be seen — his head resting on 
his three works. Chaucer called him " the moral Gower " ; and his 
books are very dull, heavy, and difficult to read. 



6. William Langlande (1332-1400), a poet who used the old 
English head-rhyme, as Chaucer used the foreign end-rhyme, was 
born at Cleobury-Mortimer in Shropshire, in the year 1332. The 
date of his death is doubtful. His poem is called the Vision of 
Piers the Plowman ; and it is the last long poem in our literature 
that was written in Old English alliterative rhyme. From this 
period, if rhyme is employed at all, it is the end-rhyme, which we 
borrowed from the French and Italians. The poem has an appen- 
dix called Do-well, Do-bet, Do-best — the three stages in the 
growth of a Christian. Langlande's writings remained in manuscript 
until the reign of Edward VI. ; they were printed then, and went 
through three editions in one year. The English used in the 
Vision is the Midland dialect — much the same as that used by 
Chaucer ; only, oddly enough, Langlande admits into his English a 



THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Sfi ', 

lai-ger amount of French words than Chaucer. The poem is a dis- 
tinct landmark in the history of our speech. The following is a 
specimen of the lines. There are three alliterative words in each 
line, with a pause near the middle — 

" A voice foud in that light • to Zucifer cried, 
' Princes of this palace " ^>rest * undo the gate's, 
For here cometh with crown ■ the king of all glory ! ' " 



7. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400), the "father of English 
poetry," and the greatest narrative poet of this country, was born 
in London in or about the year 1340. He lived in the reigns of 
Edward III., Kichard II., and one year in the reign of Henry IV. 
His father was a vintner. The name Chaucer is a Norman name, 
and is found on the roll of Battle Abbey. He is said to have 
studied both at Oxford and Cambridge ; served as page in the 
household of Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third son of 
Edward III. ; served also in the army, and was taken prisoner 
in one of the French campaigns. In 1367, he was appointed gen- 
tleman-in-waiting (valettus) to Edward III., who sent him on 
several embassies. In 1374 he married a lady of the Queen's 
chamber; and by this marriage he became connected with John 
of Gaunt, who afterwards married a sister of this lady. While 
on an embassy to Italy, he is reported to have met the great poet 
Petrarch, who told him the story of the Patient Griselda. In 1381, 
he was made Comptroller of Customs in the great port of London — 
an office which he held till the year 1386. In that year he was 
elected knight of the shire — that is, member of Parliament for the 
county of Kent. In 1389, he was appointed Clerk of the King's 
Works at Westminster and Windsor. From 1381 to 1389 was pro- 
bably the best and most productive period of his life ; for it was in 
this period that he wrote the House of Fame, the Legend of 
Good Women, and the best of the Canterbury Tales. From 
1390 to 1400 was spent in writing the other Canterbury Tales, 
ballads, and some moral poems. He died at Westminster in the 
year 1400, and was the first writer who was buried in the Poets' 
Corner of the Abbey. We see from his life — and it was fortunate 
for his poetry — that Chaucer had the most varied experience as 
student, courtier, soldier, ambassador, official, and member of Parlia- 
ment ; and was able to mix freely and on equal terms with all sorts 
and conditions of men, from the king to the poorest hind in the 
fields. He was a stout man, with a small bright face, soft eyes, 

1 Quickly. 



362 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

dazed by long and hard reading, and with the English passion for 
flowers, green fields, and all the sights and sounds of nature. 

8. Chaucer's Works. — Chaucer's greatest work is the Canter- 
bury Tales. It is a collection of stories written in heroic metre — 
that is, in the rhymed couplet of five iambic feet. The finest part 
of the Canterbury Tales is the Prologue ; the noblest story is pro- 
bably the Knightes Tale. It is worthy of note that, in 1362, 
when Chaucer was a very young man, the session of the House 
of Commons was first opened with a speech in English ; and in the 
same year an Act of Parliament was passed, substituting the use of 
English for French in courts of law, in schools, and in public offices. 
English had thus triumphed over French in all parts of the country, 
while it had at the same time become saturated with French words. 
In the year 1383 the Bible was translated into English by Wyclif. 
Thus Chaucer, whose writings were called by Spenser " the well of 
English undefiled," wrote at a time when our English was freshest 
and newest. The grammar of his works shows English with a large 
number of inflexions still remaining. The Canterbury Tales are a 
series of stories supposed to be told by a number of pilgrims who are 
on their way to the shrine of St Thomas (Becket) at Canterbury. 
The pilgrims, thirty- two in number, are fully described — their dress, 
look, manners, and character in the Prologue. It had been agreed, 
when they met at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, that each pilgrim 
should tell four stories — two going and two returning — as they rode 
along the grassy lanes, then the only roads, to the old cathedral city. 
But only four-and -twenty stories exist. 

9. Chaucer's Style. — Chaucer expresses, in the truest and liveliest 
way, " the true and lively of everything which is set before him ; " 
and he first gave to English poetry that force, vigour, life, and 
colour which raised it above the level of mere rhymed prose. All 
the best poems and histories in Latin, French, and Italian were well 
known to Chaucer ; and he borrows from them with the greatest 
freedom. He handles, with masterly power, all the characters and 
events in his Tales ; and he is hence, beyond doubt, the greatest 
narrative poet that England ever produced. In the Prologue, his 
masterpiece, Dryden says, " we have our forefathers and great-grand- 
dames all before us, as they were in Chaucer's days." His dramatic 
power, too, is nearly as great as his narrative power ; and Mr Marsh 
affirms that he was "a dramatist before that which is technically 
known as the existing drama had been invented." That is to say, 
he could set men and women talking as they would and did talk in 
real life, but with more point, spirit, verve, and picturesqueness. 
&s regards the matter of his poems, it may be sufficient to say that 



THE FOUETEENTH CENTURY. 363 

Dryden calls him " a perpetual fountain of good sense ; " and that 
Hazlitt makes this remark : " Chaucer was the most practical of all 
the great poets, — the most a man of business and of the world. His 
poetry reads like history." Tennyson speaks of him thus in his 
" Dream of Fair Women " : — 

** Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath 
Preluded those melodious bursts that fill 
The spacious times of great Elizabeth, 
With sounds that echo still." 



10. John Barbour (1316-1396).— The earliest Scottish poet of 
any importance in the fourteenth century is John Barbour, who rose 
to be Archdeacon of Aberdeen. Barbour was of Norman blood, and 
wrote Northern English, or, as it is sometimes called, Scotch. He 
studied both at Oxford and . at the University of Paris. His chief 
work is a poem called The Bruce. The English of this poem does 
not differ very greatly from the English of Chaucer. Barbour has 
f edit and for fighting; pressit for pressed; theretill for thereto ; but 
these differences do not make the reading of his poem very diffi- 
cult. As a Norman he w r as proud of the doings of Eobert de Bruce, 
another Norman ; and Barbour must often have heard stories of 
him in his boyhood, as he was only thirteen when Bruce died. 



CHAPTEE III. 



THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



1. The fifteenth century, a remarkable period in many ways, 
saw three royal dynasties established in England — the Houses 
of Lancaster, York, and Tudor. Eive successful French cam- 
paigns of Henry V., and the battle of Agincourt ; and, on the 
other side, the loss of all our large possessions in France, with 
the exception of Calais, under the rule of the weak Henry VI. , 
were among the chief events of the fifteenth century. The 
Wars of the Roses did not contribute anything to the prosperity 
of the century, nor could so unsettled and quarrelsome a time 
encourage the cultivation of literature. For this among other 
reasons, we find no great compositions in prose or verse ; but a 
considerable activity in the making and distribution of ballads. 
The best of these are Sir Patrick Spens, Edom o* Gordon, 
The Nut-Brown Mayde, and some of those written about 
Robin Hood and his exploits. The ballad was everywhere 
popular ; and minstrels sang them in every city and village 
through the length and breadth of England. The famous bal- 
lad of Chevy Chase is generally placed after the year 1460, 
though it did not take its present form till the seventeenth 
century. It tells the story of the Battle of Otterburn, which 
was fought in 1388. This century was also witness to the 
short struggle of Richard III., followed by the rise of the 
House of Tudor. And, in 1498, just at its close, the won- 
derful apparition of a new world — of The New "World — 



THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 365 

rose on the horizon of the English mind, for England then first 
heard of the discovery of America. But, as regards thinking 
and writing, the fifteenth century is the most barren in our 
literature. It is the most barren in the production of original 
literature ; but, on the other hand, it is, compared with all the 
centuries that preceded it, the most fertile in the dissemination 
and distribution of the literature that already existed. Eor 
England saw, in the memorable year of 1474, the establishment 
of the first printing-press in the Almonry at Westminster, by 
William Caxton. The first book printed by him in this country 
was called * The Game and Playe of the Chesse. ' When Edward 
IV. and his friends visited Caxton's house and looked at his 
printing-press, they spoke of it as a pretty toy ; they could not 
foresee that it was destined to be a more powerful engine of good 
government and the spread of thought and education than the 
Crown, Parliaments, and courts of law all put together. The 
two greatest names in literature in the fifteenth century are 
those of James I. (of Scotland) and "William Caxton himself. 
Two followers of Chaucer, Oecleve and Lydgate are also gen- 
erally mentioned. Put shortly, one might say that the chief 
poetical productions of this century were its ballads ; and the 
chief prose productions, translations from Latin or from foreign 
works. 



2. James I. op Scotland (1394-1437), though a Scotchman, owed 
his education to England. He was born in 1394. Whilst on his 
way to France when a boy of eleven, he was captured, in time of 
peace, by the order of Henry IV., and kept prisoner in England for 
about eighteen years. It was no great misfortune, for he received 
from Henry the best education that England could then give in 
language, literature, music, and all knightly accomplishments. He 
married Lady Jane Beaufort, the grand-daughter of John of Gaunt, 
the friend and patron of Chaucer. His best and longest poem is 
The Kings Quair (that is, Book), a poem which was inspired by 
the subject of it, Lady Jane Beaufort herself. The poem is written 
in a stanza of seven lines (called Rime Royal); and the style is 
a close copy of the style of Chaucer. After reigning thirteen years 
in Scotland, King James was murdered at Perth, in the year 1437. 
A Norman by blood, he is the best poet of the fifteenth century. 



366 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

3. William Caxton (1422-1492) is the name of greatest import- 
ance and significance in the history of our literature in the fifteenth 
century. He was born in Kent in the year 1422. He was not merely 
a printer, he was also a literary man ; and, when he devoted himself 
to printing, he took to it as an art, and not as a mere mechanical 
device. Caxton in early life was a mercer in the city of London ; 
and in the course of his business, which was a thriving one, he had 
to make frequent journeys to the Low Countries. Here he saw the 
printing-press for the first time, with the new separate types, 
was enchanted with it, and fired by the wonderful future it opened. 
It had been introduced into Holland about the year 1450. Caxton's 
press was set up in the Almonry at Westminster, at the sign of the 
Ked Pole. It produced in all sixty-four books, nearly all of them in 
English, some of them written by Caxton himself. One of the most 
important of them was Sir Thomas Malory's History of King 
Arthur, the storehouse from which Tennyson drew the stories 
which form the groundwork of his Idylls of the King, 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 



1. The Wars of the Eoses ended in 1485, with the victory of 
Bosworth Field. A new dynasty — the House of Tudor — sat 
upon the throne of England ; and with it a new reign of peace 
and order existed in the country, for the power of the king was 
paramount, and the power of the nobles had been gradually 
destroyed in the numerous battles of the fifteenth century. 
Like the fifteenth, this century also is famous for its ballads, the 
authors of which are not known, but which seem to have been 
composed "by the people for the people." They were sung 
everywhere, at fairs and feasts, in town and country, at going tG 
and coming home from work ; and many of them were set to 
popular dance-tunes. 

"When Tom came home from labour, 
And Cis from milking rose, 
Merrily went the tabor, 

And merrily went their toes." 

The ballads of King Lear and The Babes in the Wood are 

perhaps to be referred to this period. 

2. The first half of the sixteenth century saw the beginning 
of a new era in poetry ; and the last half saw the full meridian 
splendour of this new era. The beginning of this era was 
marked by the appearance of Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), 
and of the Earl of Surrey (1517-1547). These two eminent 



368 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

writers have been called the "twin-stars of the dawn," the 
"founders of English lyrical poetry"; and it is worthy of 
especial note, that it is to Wyatt that we owe the introduction 
of the Sonnet into our literature, and to Surrey that is due the 
introduction of Blank Verse. The most important prose- 
writers of the first half of the century were Sir Thomas More, 
the great lawyer and statesman, and William Tyndale, who 
translated the New Testament into English. In the latter half 
of the century, the great poets are Spenser and Shakespeare ; 
the great prose-writers, Bichard Hooker and Francis Bacon. 



3. Sir Thomas More's (1480-1535) chief work in English is the 
Life and Reign of Edward V. It is written in a plain, strong, 
nervous English style. Hallam calls it " the first example of good 
English — pure and perspicuous, well chosen, without vulgarisms, and 
without pedantry." His Utopia (a description of the country of 
Nowhere) was written in Latin. 



4. William Tyndale (1484-1536)— a man of the greatest signifi- 
cance, both in the history of religion, and in the history of our lan- 
guage and literature — was a native of Gloucestershire, and was 
educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. His opinions on religion and 
the rule of the Catholic Church, compelled him to leave England, 
and drove him to the Continent in the year 1523. He lived in 
Hamburg for some time. With the German and Swiss reformers 
he held that the Bible should be in the hands of every grown-up 
person, and not in the exclusive keeping of the Church. He ac- 
cordingly set to work to translate the Scriptures into his native 
tongue. Two editions of his version of the New Testament were 
printed in 1525-34. He next translated the five books of Moses, and 
the book of Jonah. In 1535 he was, after many escapes and ad- 
ventures, finally tracked and hunted down by an emissary of the 
Pope's faction, and thrown into prison at the castle of Vilvoorde, 
near Brussels. In 1536 he was brought to Antwerp, tried, con- 
demned, led to the stake, strangled, and burned. 

5. The "Work of William Tyndale. — Tyndale's translation 
has, since the time of its appearance, formed the basis of all th© 
after versions of the Bible. It is written in the purest and simplest 
English; and very few of the words used in his translation have 
grown obsolete in our modern speech. Tyndale's work is indeed, 



THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

one of the most striking landmarks in the history of our language. 
Mr Marsh says of it : " Tyndale's translation of the New Testament 
is the most important philological monument of the first half of the 
sixteenth century, — perhaps I should say, of the whole period be- 
tween Chaucer and Shakespeare. . . . The best features of the 
translation of 1611 are derived from the version of Tyndale." It may 
be said without exaggeration that, in the United Kingdom, America, 
and the colonies, about one hundred millions of people now speak 
the English of Tyndale's Bible; nor is there any book that has 
exerted so great an influence on English rhythm, English style, the 
selection of words, and the build of sentences in our English 
prose. 

6. Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), " The Poet's Poet," and one of 
the greatest poetical writers of his own or of any age, was born at 
East Smithfield, near the Tower of London, in the year 1552, about 
nine years before the birth of Bacon, and in the reign of Edward VI. 
He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School in London, and at 
Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. In 1579, we find him settled in his 
native city, where his best friend was the gallant Sir Philip Sidney, 
who introduced him to his uncle, the Earl of Leicester, then at the 
height of his power and influence with Queen Elizabeth. In the 
same year was published his first poetical work, The ShephearcTs 
Calendar — a set of twelve pastoral poems. In 1580, he went to 
Ireland as Secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, the Viceroy of that 
country. For some years he resided at Kilcolman Castle, in county 
Cork, on an estate which had been granted him out of the forfeited 
lands of the Earl of Desmond. Sir Walter Raleigh had obtained a 
similar but larger grant, and was Spenser's near neighbour. In 1590 
Spenser brought out the first three books of The Faerie Queene. 
The second three books of his great poem appeared in 1596. To- 
wards the end of 1598, a rebellion broke out in Ireland; it spread 
into Munster ; Spenser's house was attacked and set on fire ; in the 
fighting and confusion his only son perished ; and Spenser escaped 
with the greatest difficulty. In deep distress of body and mind, he 
made his way to London, where he died — at an inn in King Street, 
Westminster, at the age of forty-six, in the beginning of the year 
1599. He was buried in the Abbey, not far from the grave of 
Chaucer. 

7. Spenser's Style. — His greatest work is The Faerie Queene ; 
but that in which he shows the most striking command of language 
is his Hymn of Heavenly Love. The Faerie Queene is written 
in a nine-lined stanza, which has since been called the Spenserian 



370 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Stanza. The first eight lines are of the usual length of five iambic 
feet ; the last line contains six feet, and is therefore an Alexandrine. 
Each stanza contains only three rhymes, which are disposed in this 
order: ababbcbc c. — The music of the stanza is long-drawn out, 
beautiful, involved, and even luxuriant. — The story of the poem is 
an allegory, like the ' Pilgrim's Progress ' ; and in it Spenser under- 
took, he says, " to represent all the moral virtues, assigning to every 
virtue a knight to be the patron and defender of the same." 1 Only 
six books were completed ; and these relate the adventures of the 
knights who stand for Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, 
Justice, and Courtesy. The Faerie Queene herself is called 
Gloriana, who represents Glory in his "general intention," and 
Queen Elizabeth in his " particular intention." 

8. Character of the Faerie Queene. — This poem is the greatest 
of the sixteenth century. Spenser has not only been the delight of 
nearly ten generations ; he was the study of Shakespeare, the poet- 
ical master of Cowley and of Milton, and, in some sense, of Dryden 
and Pope. Keats, when a boy, was never tired of reading him. 
" There is something," says Pope, " in Spenser that pleases one as 
strongly in old age as it did in one's youth." Professor Craik says : 
" Without calling Spenser the greatest of all poets, we may still say 
that his poetry is the most poetical of all poetry." The outburst of 
national feeling after the defeat of the Armada in 1588; the new 
lands opened up by our adventurous Devonshire sailors ; the strong 
and lively loyalty of the nation to the queen ; the great statesmen 
and writers of the period; the high daring shown by England 
against Spain — all these animated and inspired the glowing genius 
of Spenser. His rhythm is singularly sweet and beautiful. Hazlitt 
says : " His versification is at once the most smooth and the most 
sounding in the language. It is a labyrinth of sweet sounds." 
Nothing can exceed the wealth of Spenser's phrasing and expression ; 
there seems to be no limit to its flow. He is very fond of the Old- 
English practice of alliteration or head-rhyme — " hunting the letter.'" 
as it was called. Thus he has — 

" In woods, in waves, in wars, she wont to dwell. 
Gay without good is good heart's greatest loathing." 

9. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest dramatist 
that England ever produced, was born at Stratford-on-Avon, in 
Warwickshire, on the 23d of April — St George's Day — of the year 
1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a wool dealer and grower. 

1 This use of the phrase " the same " is antiquated English. 



THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 371 

William was educated at the grammar-school of the town, where he 
learned " small Latin and less Greek " ; and this slender stock was 
his only scholastic outfit for life. At the early age of eighteen he 
married Anne Hathaway, a yeoman's daughter. In 1586, at the age 
of twenty-two, he quitted his native town, and went to London. 

10. Shakespeare's Life and Character. — He was employed in 
some menial capacity at the Blackfriars Theatre, hut gradually rose to 
be actor and also adapter of plays. He was connected with the 
theatre for about five-and-twenty years ; and so diligent and so 
successful was he, that he was able to purchase shares both in his 
own theatre and in the Globe. As an actor, he was only second- 
rate : the two parts he is known to have played are those of the 
Ghost in Hamlet, and Adam in As Yon Like It. In 1597, at 
the early age of thirty-three, he was able to purchase New Place, in 
Stratford, and to rebuild the house. In 1612, at the age of forty- 
eight, he left London altogether, and retired for the rest of his life 
to New Place, where he died in the year 1616. His old father and 
mother spent the last years of their lives with him, and died under 
his roof. Shakespeare had three children — two girls and a boy. 
The boy, Hamnet, died at the age of twelve. Shakespeare himself 
was beloved by every one who knew him; and "gentle Shake- 
speare " was the phrase most often upon the lips of his friends. A 
placid face, with a sweet, mild expression; a high, broad, noble, 
"two -storey" forehead; bright eyes; a most speaking mouth — 
though it seldom opened ; an open, frank manner, a kindly, hand- 
some look, — such seems to have been the external character of the 
man Shakespeare. 

11. Shakespeare's "Works. — He has written thirty-seven plays 
and many poems. The best of his rhymed poems are his Sonnets, in 
which he chronicles many of the various moods of his mind. The 
plays consist of tragedies, historical plays, and comedies. The 
greatest of his tragedies are probably Hamlet and King Lear ; 
the best of his historical plays, Richard III. and Jnlins Caesar ; 
and his finest comedies, Midsummer Night's Dream and As 
Yon Like It. He wrote in the reign of Elizabeth as well ag 
in that of James ; but his greatest works- belong to the latter 
period. 

12. Shakespeare's Style.— -Every one knows that Shakespeare 
is great ; but how is the young learner to discover the best way 
of forming an adequate idea of his greatness? In the first place, 
Shakespeare has very many sides ; and, in the second place, he is 
great on every one of them. Coleridge says : "In all points, from 
the most important to the most minute, the judgment of Shakespeare 



372 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

is commensurate with his genius — nay, his genius reveals itself in 
his judgment, as in its most exalted form." He has been called 
" mellifluous Shakespeare ; " " honey-tongued Shakespeare ; " " silver- 
tongued Shakespeare ; " " the thousand-souled Shakespeare ; " " the 
myriad-minded;" and by many other epithets. He seems to have 
been master of all human experience ; to have known the human 
heart in all its phases ; to have been acquainted with all sorts and 
conditions of men — high and low, rich and poor ; and to have studied 
the history of past ages, and of other countries. He also shows a 
greater and more highly skilled mastery over language than any 
other writer that ever lived. The vocabulary employed by Shake- 
speare amounts in number of words to twenty-one thousand. The 
vocabulary of Milton numbers only seven thousand words. But it 
is not sufficient to say that Shakespeare's power of thought, of feel- 
ing, and of expression required three times the number of words 
to express itself ; we must also say that Shakespeare's power of ex- 
pression shows infinitely greater skill, subtlety, and cunning than 
is to be found in the works of Milton. Shakespeare had also a mar- 
vellous power of making new phrases, most of which have become 
part and parcel of our language. Such phrases as every inch a king ; 
witch the world; the time is out of joint, and hundreds more, show 
that modern Englishmen not only speak Shakespeare, but think 
Shakespeare. His knowledge of human nature has enabled him to 
throw into English literature a larger number of genuine "char- 
acters " that will always live in the thoughts of men, than any other 
author that ever wrote. And he has not drawn his characters from 
England alone and from his own time — but from Greece and Kome, 
from other countries, too, and also from all ages. He has written in 
a greater variety of styles than any other writer. "Shakespeare," 
says Professor Craik, "has invented twenty styles." The know- 
ledge, too, that he shows on every kind of human endeavour is as 
accurate as it is varied. Lawyers say that he was a great lawyer ; 
theologians, that he was an able divine, and unequalled in his know- 
ledge of the Bible ; printers, that he must have been a printer ; and 
seamen, that he knew every branch of the sailor's craft. 

13. Shakespeare's contemporaries. — But we are not to suppose 
that Shakespeare stood alone in the end of the sixteenth and the begin- 
ning of the seventeenth century as a great poet ; and that everything 
else was flat and low around him. This never is and never can be 
the case. Great genius is the possession, not of one man, but of 
several in a great age ; and we do not find a great writer standing 
alone and unsupported, just as we do not find a high mountain rising 



THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 373 

from a low plain. The largest group of the highest mountains in the 
world, the Himalayas, rise from the highest table-land in the world ; 
and peaks nearly as high as the highest — Mount Everest — are seen 
cleaving the blue sky in the neighbourhood of Mount Everest itself. 
And so we find Shakespeare surrounded by dramatists in some re- 
spects nearly as great as himself; for the same great forces welling 
up within the heart of England that made him created also the 
others. Marlowe, the teacher of Shakespeare, Peele, and Greene, 
preceded him ; Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger 
and Ford, "Webster, Chapman, and many others, were his con- 
temporaries, lived with him, talked with him ; and no doubt each of 
these men influenced the work of the others. But the works of these 
men belong chiefly to the seventeenth century. We must not, how- 
ever, forget that the reign of Queen Elizabeth — called in literature 
the Elizabethan Period — was the greatest that England ever saw, 
— greatest in poetry and in prose, greatest in thought and in action, 
and perhaps also greatest in external events. 



14. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), the first great English 
dramatist, was born at Canterbury in the year 1564, two months 
before the birth of Shakespeare himself. He studied at Corpus 
Christi College, Cambridge, and took the degree of Master of Arts 
in 1587. After leaving the university, he came up to London and 
wrote for the stage. He seems to have led a wild and reckless life, 
and was stabbed in a tavern brawl on the 1st of June 1593. " As he 
may be said to have invented and made the verse of the drama, so 
he created the English drama." His chief plays are Dr Faustus 
and Edward the Second. His style is one of the greatest vigour 
and power : it is often coarse, but it is always strong. Ben Jonson 
spoke of " Marlowe's mighty line" ; and Lord Jeffrey says of him: 
" In felicity of thought and strength of expression, he is second only 
to Shakespeare himself." 



15. Ben Jonson (1573-1637), the greatest dramatist of England 
after Shakespeare, was born in Westminster in the year 1573, just 
nine years after Shakespeare's birth. He received his education at 
Westminster School. It is said that, after leaving school, he was 
obliged to assist his stepfather as a bricklayer; that he did not like 
the work ; and that he ran off to the Low Countries, and there en- 
listed as a soldier. On his return to London, he began to write for 



374 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

the stage. Jonson was a friend and companion of Shakespeare's ; 
and at the Mermaid, in Fleet Street, they had, in presence of men 
like Raleigh, Marlowe, Greene, Peele, and other distinguished 
Englishmen, many " wit - combats " together. Jonson's greatest 
plays are Volpone or the Fox, and the Alchemist — both 
comedies. In 1616 he was created Poet - Laureate. For many 
years he was in receipt of a pension from James I. and from Charles 
I. ; hut so careless and profuse were his habits, that he died in 
poverty in the year 1637. He was buried in an upright position in 
Westminster Abbey ; and the stone over his grave still bears the 
inscription, " O rare Ben Jonson ! " He has been called a " robust, 
surly, and observing dramatist." 

16. Richard Hooker (1553-1600), one of the greatest of Eliza- 
bethan prose-writers, was born at Heavitree, a village near the city 
of Exeter, in the year 1553. By the kind aid of Jewel, Bishop of 
Salisbury, he was sent to Oxford, where he distinguished himself 
as a hard-working student, and especially for his knowledge of 
Hebrew. In 1581 he entered the Church. In the same year he 
made an imprudent marriage with an ignorant, coarse, vulgar, and 
domineering woman. He was appointed Master of the Temple in 
1585 ; but, by his own request, he was removed from that office, 
and chose the quieter living of Boscombe, near Salisbury. Here 
he wrote the first four books of his famous work, The Laws 
of Ecclesiastical Polity, which were published in the year 1594. 
In 1595 he was translated to the living of Bishopsborne, near Can- 
terbury. His death took place in the year 1600. The complete 
work, which consisted of eight books, was not published till 1662. 

17. Hooker's Style. — His writings are said to "mark an era in 
English prose." His sentences are generally very long, very elab- 
orate, but full of " an extraordinary musical richness of language." 
The order is often more like that of a Latin than of an English 
sentence ; and he is fond of Latin inversions. Thus he writes : 
" That which by wisdom he saw to be requisite for that people, was 
by as great wisdom compassed." The following sentences give us a 
good example of his sweet and musical rhythm. " Of law there can 
be no less acknowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her 
voice the harmony of the world. All things in heaven and earth do 
her homage ; the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as 
not exempted from her power: both angels and men, and creatures 
of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, 
yet all, witli uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their 
peace and joy." 



THE SIXTEENTH CENTUEY. 375 

18. Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), a noble knight, a states- 
man, and one of the best prose-writers of the Elizabethan age, was 
born at Penshurst, in Kent, in the year 1554. He was educated at 
Shrewsbury School, and then at Christ Church, Oxford. At the 
age of seventeen he went abroad for three years' travel on the Con- 
tinent ; and, while in Paris, witnessed, from the windows of the 
English Embassy, the horrible Massacre of St Bartholomew in the 
year 1572. At the early age of twenty-two he was sent as am- 
bassador to the Emperor of Germany; and while on that embassy, 
he met William of Orange — "William the Silent" — who pronounced 
him one of the ripest statesmen in Europe. This was said of a young 
man " who seems to have been the type of what was noblest in the 
youth of England during times that could produce a statesman." 
In 1580 he wrote the Arcadia, a romance, and dedicated it to his 
sister, the Countess of Pembroke. The year after, he produced his 
Apologie for Poetrie. His policy as a statesman was to side with 
Protestant rulers, and to break the power of the strongest Catholic 
kingdom on the Continent — the power of Spain. In 1585 the 
Queen sent him to the Netherlands as governor of the important 
fortress of Flushing. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish at 
Zutphen ; and as he was being carried off the field, handed to a 
private the cup of cold water that had been brought to quench his 
raging thirst. He died of his wounds on the 17th of October 1586. 
One of his friends wrote of him : — 

" Death, courage, honour, make thy soul to live ! — 
Thy soul in heaven, thy name in tongues of men ! " 

19. Sidney's Poetry. — In addition to the Arcadia and the 
Apologie for Poetrie, Sidney wrote a number of beautiful poems. 
The best of these are a series of sonnets called Astrophel and 
Stella, of which his latest critic says : " As a series of sonnets, the 
Astrophel and Stella poems are second only to Shakespeare's ; as 
a series of love -poems, they are perhaps unsurpassed." Spenser 
wrote an elegy upon Sidney himself, under the title of Astrophel. 
Sidney's prose is among the best of the sixteenth century. " He reads 
more modern than any other author of that century." He does not 
use " ink-horn terms," or cram his sentences with Latin or French or 
Italian words ; but both his words and his idioms are of pure English. 
He is fond of using personifications. Such phrases as, " About the 
time that the candles began to inherit the sun's office ; " " Seeing the 
day begin to disclose her comfortable beauties," are not uncommon. 
The rhythm of his sentences is always melodious, and each of them 
has a very pleasant close. 



CHAPTEK V. 

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The First Half. — Under the wise and able rule of Queen 
Elizabeth, this country had enjoyed a long term of peace. The 
Spanish Armada had been defeated in 1588; the Spanish power 
had gradually waned before the growing might of England ; and 
it could be said with perfect truth, in the words of Shake- 
speare : — 

In her days every man doth eat in safety 
Under his own vine what he plants, and sing 
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours.'* 

The country was at peace ; and every peaceful art and pursuit 
prospered. As one sign of the great prosperity and outstretch- 
ing enterprise of commerce, we should note the foundation of 
the East India Company on the last day of the year 1600. The 
reign of James I. (1603-1625) was also peaceful; and the 
country made steady progress in industries, in commerce, and in 
the arts and sciences. The two greatest prose-writers of the 
first half of the seventeenth century were Raleigh and Bacon ; 
the two greatest poets were Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. 



2. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618). — "Walter Raleigh, soldier, 
statesman, coloniser, historian, and poet, was born in Devonshire, in 
the year 1552. He was sent to Oriel College, Oxford ; but he left at 
the early age of seventeen to fight on the side of the Protestants in 
France. From that time his life is one long series of schemes, plots, 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUKY. 377 

adventures, and misfortunes — culminating in his execution at West- 
minster in the year 1618. He spent "the evening of a tempestuous 
life " in the Tower, where he lay for thirteen years ; and during this 
imprisonment he wrote his greatest work, the History of the 
"World, which was never finished. His life and adventures be- 
long to the sixteenth ; his works to the seventeenth century. 
Raleigh was probably the most dazzling figure of his time ; and is 
" in a singular degree the representative of the vigorous versatility 
of the Elizabethan period." Spenser, whose neighbour he was for 
some time in Ireland, thought highly of his poetry, calls him " the 
-ummer's nightingale," and says of him — 

" Yet semuling 1 my song, lie took in hand 
My pipe, before that aemuled of many, 
And played thereon (for well that skill he conn'd), 
Himself as skilful in that art as any." 

Raleigh is the author of the celebrated verses, " Go, soul, the body's 
guest ; " " Give me my scallop-shell of quiet ; " and of the lines which 
were written and left in his Bible on the night before he was 
beheaded : — 

" Even such is time, that takes in trust 
Our youth, our joys, our all we have, 
And pays us but with age and dust ; 
Who, in the dark and silent grave, 
When we have wandered all our ways, 
Shuts up the story of our days : 
But from this earth, this grave, this dust, 
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust ! " 

Raleigh's prose has been described as " some of the most flowing 
and modern-looking prose of the period ; " and there can be no 
doubt that, if he had given himself entirely to literature, he would 
have been one of the greatest poets and prose-writers of his time. 
His style is calm, noble, and melodious. The following is the last 
sentence of the History of the World : — 

"0 eloquent, just, and mighty Death ! whom none could advise, thou hast 
persuaded ; what none hath dared, thou hast done ; and whom all the world 
hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and despised ; thou hast 
drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and am- 
bition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words Hicjacet." 



3. Francis Bacon (1561-1626), one of the greatest of English 
thinkers, and one of our best prose-writers, was born at York House, 

1 Emulating. 



a 78 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

in the Strand, London, in the year 1561. He was a grave aud 
precocious child ; and Queen Elizabeth, who knew him and liked 
him, used to pat him and call him her " young Lord Keeper " — his 
father being Lord Keeper of the Seals in her reign. At the early 
age of twelve he was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge, and re- 
mained there for three years. In 1582 he was called to the bar; 
in 1593 he was M.P. for Middlesex. But his greatest rise in fortune 
did not take place till the reign of James I. ; when, in the year 1618. 
he had risen to be Lord High Chancellor of England. The title 
which he took on this occasion — for the Lord High Chancellor is 
chairman of the House of Lords — was Baron Verulam; and a 
few years after he was created Viscount St Albans. His elo- 
quence was famous in England ; and Ben Jonson said of him : " The 
fear of every man that heard him was lest he should make an end." 
In the year 1621 he was accused of taking bribes, and of giving un- 
just decisions as a judge. He had not really been unconscientious, 
but he had been careless ; was obliged to plead guilty ; and he was 
sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, and to be imprisoned in the 
Tower during the king's pleasure. The fine was remitted ; Bacon 
was set free in two days ; a pension was allowed him ; but he never 
afterwards held office of any kind. He died on Easter-day of the 
year 1626, of a chill which he caught while experimenting on the 
preservative properties of snow. 

4. His chief prose-works in English — for he wrote many in Latin — . 
are the Essays, and the Advancement of Learning. His Essays 
make one of the wisest books ever written ; and a great number of 
English thinkers owe to them the best of what they have had to fiay. 
They are written in a clear, forcible, pithy, and picturesque style, 
with short sentences, and a good many illustrations, drawn from his- 
tory, politics, and science. It is true that the style is sometimes 
stiff, and even rigid ; but the stiffness is the stiffness of a richly 
embroidered cloth, into which threads of gold and silver have been 
worked. Bacon kept what he called a Promus or Commonplace- 
Book ; and in this he entered striking thoughts, sentences, and 
phrases that he met with in the course of his reading, or that oc- 
curred to him during the day. He calls these sentences " salt-pits, 
that you may extract salt out of, and sprinkle as you wilL" The 
following are a few examples: — 

"That that is Forced is not Forcible." 

" No Man loveth his Fetters though they be of Gold." 

" Clear and Round Dealing is the Honour of Man's Nature." 

" The Arch-flatterer, with whom all the petty Flatterers have intelligence, is 

9 Man's Self, " 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 379 

- • If Things be not tossed upon the Arguments of Counsell, they will be tossed 
Upon the Waves of Fortune. " 

The following are a few striking sentences from his Essays : — 

" Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set." 

" A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds ; therefore, let him season- 
ably water the one, and destroy the other." 

"A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk 
but a tinkling cymbal, when there is no love." 

No man could say wiser things in pithier words ; and we may 
well say of his thoughts, in the words of Tennyson, that they are—' 

"Jewels, five words long, 
That on the stretched forefinger of all time 
Sparkle for ever." 



5. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has been already treated 
of in the chapter on the sixteenth century. But it may be noted 
here that his first two periods — as they are called — fall within the 
sixteenth, and his last two periods within the seventeenth century. 
His first period lies between 1591 and 1596; and to it are ascribed 
his early poems, his play of Richard II., and some other histor- 
ical plays. His second period, which stretches from 1596 to 1601 
holds the Sonnets, the Merchant of Venice, the Merry "Wives of 
Windsor, and a few historical dramas. But his third and fourth 
periods were richer in production, and in greater productions. The 
third period, which belongs to the years 1601 to 1608, produced the 
play of Julius Caesar, the great tragedies of Hamlet, Othello, 
Lear, Macbeth, and some others. To the fourth period, which 
lies between 1608 and 1613, belong the calmer and wiser dramas, 
— Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII. Three 
years after — in 1616 — he died. 

6. The Second Half. — The second half of the great and 
unique seventeenth century was of a character very different 
indeed from that of the first half. The Englishmen born into 
it had to face a new world ! New thoughts in religion, new 
forces in politics, new powers in social matters had been slowly, 
steadily, and irresistibly rising into supremacy ever since the 
Scottish King James came to take his seat upon the throne of 
England in 1603. These new forces had, in fact, become so 



380 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

strong that they led a king to the scaffold, and handed over th« 
government of England to a section of Republicans. Charlea 
I. was executed in 1649; and, though his son came back 
to the throne in 1660, the face, the manners, the thoughts of 
England and of Englishmen had undergone a complete internal 
and external change. The Puritan party was everywhere the 
rilling party ; and its views and convictions, in religion, in 
politics, and in literature, held unquestioned sway in almost 
every part of England. In the Puritan party, the strongest 
section was formed by the Independents — the " root and branch 
men " — as they were called ; and the greatest man among the 
Independents was Oliver Cromwell, in whose government John. 
Milton was Foreign Secretary. Milton was certainly by far 
the greatest and most powerful writer, both in prose and in 
verse, on the side of the Puritan party. The ablest verse-writer 
on the Royalist or Court side was Samuel Butler, the unrivalled 
satirist — the Hogarth of language, — the author of Hudibras. 
The greatest prose-writer on the Royalist and Church side was 
Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down, in Ireland, and the author 
of Holy Living, Holy Dying, and many other works written 
with a wonderful eloquence. The greatest philosophical writer 
was Thomas Hobbes, the author of the Leviathan. The most 
powerful writer for the people was John Bunyan, the immortal 
author of The Pilgrim's Progress. When, however, we come 
to the reigns of Charles II. and James II. , and the new influences 
which their rule and presence imparted, we find the greatest poet 
to be John Dryden, and the most important prose-writer, John 
Locke. 

7. The Poetry of the Second Half. — The poetry of the second 
half of the seventeenth century was not an outgrowth or lineal 
descendant of the poetry of the first half. No trace of the 
strong Elizabethan poetical emotion remained ; no writer of this 
half-century can claim kinship with the great authors of the 
Elizabethan period. The three most remarkable poets in the 
latter half of this century are John Milton, Samuel Butler, 
and John Dryden. But Milton's culture was derived chiefly 
from the great Greek and Latin writers ; and his poems show 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 381 

lew or no signs of belonging to any age or generation in particu- 
lar of English literature. Butler's poem, the Hudibras, is the 
only one of its kind ; and if its author owes anything to other 
writers, it is to France and not to England that we must look 
for its sources. Dryden, again, shows no sign of being related 
to Shakespeare or the dramatic writers of the early part of the 
century ; he is separated from them by a great gulf ; he owes 
most, when he owes anything, to the French school of poetry. 



8. John Milton (1608-1674), the second greatest name in Eng- 
lish poetry, and the greatest of all our epic poets, was born in Bread 
Street, Cheapside, London, in the year 1608 — five years after the ac- 
cession of James I. to the throne, and eight years before the death of 
Shakespeare. He was educated at St Paul's School, and then at 
Christ's College, Cambridge. He was so handsome — with a delicate 
complexion, clear blue eyes, and light-brown hair flowing down his 
shoulders — that he was known as the " Lady of Christ's." He was 
destined for the Church ; but, being early seized with a strong desire 
to compose a great poetical work which should bring honour to his 
country and to the English tongue, he gave up all idea of becoming 
a clergyman. Filled with his secret purpose, he retired to Horton, 
in Buckinghamshire, where his father had bought a small country 
seat. Between the years 1632 and 1638 he studied all the best 
Greek and Latin authors, mathematics, and science; and he also 
wrote L'Allegro and II Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas, and some 
shorter poems. These were preludes, or exercises, towards the great 
poetical work which it was the mission of his life to produce. In 
1638-39 he took a journey to the Continent. Most of his time 
was spent in Italy ; and, when in Florence, he paid a visit to Galileo 
in prison. It had been his intention to go on to Greece; but the 
troubled state of politics at home brought him back sooner than he 
wished. The next ten years of his life were engaged in teaching 
and in writing his prose works. His ideas on teaching are to be 
found in his Tractate on Education. The most eloquent of his 
prose-works is his Areopagitica, a Speech for the Liberty of 
Unlicensed Printing (1644) — a plea for the freedom of the press, 
for relieving all writings from the criticism of censors. In 1649 — 
the year of the execution of Charles I. — Milton was appointed Latin 
or Foreign Secretary to the Government of. Oliver Cromwell; and 
for the next ten years his time was taken up with official work, 
and with writing prose-volumes in defence of the action of the 



382 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Republic. In 1660 the Restoration took place ; and Milton was at 
length free, in his fifty-third year, to carry out his long-cherished 
scheme of writing a great Epic poem. He chose the subject of the 
fall and the restoration of man. Paradise Lost was completed in 
1665 ; but, owing to the Plague and the Fire of London, it was not 
published till the year 1667. Milton's young Quaker friend, Ell wood, 
said to him one day : " Thou hast said much of Paradise Lost, what 
hast thou to say of Paradise Found % " Paradise Regained was 
the result — a work which was written in 1666, and appeared, along 
with Samson Agonistes, in the year 1671 Milton died in the 
year 1674 — about the middle of the reign of Charles II. He had 
been three times married. 

9. L' Allegro (or "The Cheerful Man") is a companion poem to 
H Penseroso (or " The Meditative Man " ). The poems present two 
contrasted views of the life of the student. They are written in an 
irregular kind of octosyllabic verse. The Comus — mostly in blank 
verse — is a lyrical drama ; and Milton's work was accompanied by 
a musical composition by the then famous musician Henry Lawes. 
Lycidas — a poem in irregular rhymed verse — is a threnody on the 
death of Milton's young friend, Edward King, who was drowned 
in sailing from Chester to Dublin. This poem has been called " the 
touchstone of taste;" the man who cannot admire it has no feeling 
for true poetry. The Paradise Lost is the story of how Satan was 
allowed to plot against the happiness of man ; and how Adam and 
Eve fell through his designs. The style is the noblest in the English 
language; the music of the rhythm is lofty, involved, sustained, and 
sublime. " In reading ' Paradise Lost,' " says Mr Lowell, " one has a 
feeling of spaciousness such as no other poet gives." Paradise 
Regained is, in fact, the story of the Temptation, and of Christ's 
triumph over the wiles of Satan. Wordsworth says : " ' Paradise 
Regained' is most perfect in execution of any written by Milton ; " 
and Coleridge remarks that "it is in its kind the most perfect 
poem extant, though its kind may be inferior in interest." Samson 
Agonistes (" Samson in Struggle" ) is a drama, in highly irregular 
unrhymed verse, in which the poet sets forth his own unhappy fate — 

"Eyeless, in Gaza, at the mill with slaves." 
It is, indeed, an autobiographical poem — it is the story of the last 

troow nf +Vio -nopf's lifp 



— _ -, } 

years of the poet's life. 



10. Samuel Butler (1612-1680), the wittiest of English poets, wad 
born at Strensh am, in Worcestershire, in the year 1612, four yeara 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 383 

after the birth of Milton, and four years before the death of Shake- 
speare. He was educated at the grammar-school of Worcester, and 
afterwards at Cambridge — but only for a short time. At the Eesto- 
ration he was made secretary to the Earl of Carbery, who was then 
President of the Principality of Wales, and steward of Ludlow Castle. 
The first part of his long poem called Hudibras appeared in 1662; 
the second part in 1663 ; the third in 1678. Two years after, Butler 
died in the greatest poverty in London. He was buried in St Paul's, 
Covent Garden ; but a monument was erected to him in Westminster 
Abbey. Upon this fact Wesley wrote the following epigram : — 

" While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive, 
No generous patron would a dinner give ; 
See him, when starved to death, and turned to dust, 
Presented with a monumental bust. 
The poet's fate is here in emblem shown, — 
He asked for bread, and he received a stone." 

11. The Hudibras is a burlesque poem, — a long lampoon, a 
laboured caricature, — in mockery of the weaker side of the great 
Puritan party. It is an imaginary account of the adventures of a 
Puritan knight and his squire in the Civil Wars. It is choke-full of 
all kinds of learning, of the most pungent remarks — a very hoard of 
sentences and saws, " of vigorous locutions and picturesque phrases, 
of strong, sound sense, and robust English." It has been more 
quoted from than almost any book in our language. Charles II. 
was never tired of reading it and quoting from it — 

" He never ate, nor drank, nor slept, 
But Hudibras still near him kept" — 

says Butler himself. 

The following are some of his best known lines : — 

" And, like a lobster boil'd, the morn 
From black to red began to turn." 

" For loyalty is still the same, 
Whether it win or lose the game: 
True as the dial to the sun, 
Altho' it be not shin'd upon." 

" He that complies against his will, 
Is of his own opinion still." 



12. John Dryden (1631-1700), the greatest of our poets in the 
second rank, was born at Aldwincle, in Northamptonshire, in the 



384 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

year 1631. He was descended from Puritan ancestors on buth 
sides of his house. He was educated at Westminster School, and 
at Trinity College, Cambridge. London became his settled abode in 
the year 1657. At the Restoration, in 1660, he became an ardent 
Royalist ; and, in the year 1663, he married the daughter of a Royalist 
nobleman, the Earl of Berkshire. It was not a happy marriage ; the 
lady, on the one hand, had a violent temper, and, on the other, did 
not care a straw for the literary pursuits of her husband. In 1666 he 
wrote his first long poem, the Annus Mirabilis (" The Wonderful 
Year "), in which he paints the war with Holland, and the Fire of 
London ; and from this date his life is " one long literary labour." 
In 1670, he received the double appointment of Historiographer- 
Royal and Poet-Laureate. Up to the year 1681, his work lay chiefly 
in writing plays for the theatre ; and these plays were written in 
rhymed verse, in imitation of the French, plays ; for, from the date 
of the Restoration, French, influence was paramount both in literature 
and in fashion. But in this year he published the first part of 
Absalom and Achitophel — one of the most powerful satires in the 
language. In the year 1683 he was appointed Collector of Customs 
in the port of London — a post which Chaucer had held before him. 
(It is worthy of note that Dryden " translated " the Tales of Chaucer 
into modern English.) At the accession of James II., in 1685, Dryden 
became a Roman Catholic ; most certainly neither for gain nor out 
of gratitude, but from conviction. In 1687, appeared his poem of 
The Hind and the Panther, in which, he defends his new creed. 
He had, a few years before, brought out another poem called Religio 
Laici (" A Layman's Faith "), which was a defence of the Church of 
England and of her position in religion. In The Hind and the 
Panther, the Hind represents the Roman Catholic Church, " a milk- 
white hind, unspotted and unchanged," the Panther the Church of 
England; and the two beasts reply to each other in all the argu- 
ments used by controversialists on these two sides. When the 
Revolution of 1688 took place, and James II. had to flee the king- 
dom, Dryden lost both his offices and the pension lie had from 
the Crown. Nothing daunted, he set to work once more. Again 
he wrote for the stage; but the last years of his life were spent 
chiefly in translation. He translated passages from Homer, Ovid, 
and from some Italian writers; but his most important work was 
the translation of the whole of Virgil's JEneid. To the last he 
retained his fire and vigour, action and rush of verse ; and some of 
his greatest lyric poems belong to his later years. His ode called 
Alexander's Feast was written at the age of sixty-six ; and it was 
written at one sitting. At the age of sixty-nine he was meditating a 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 335 

translation of the whole of Homer — both the Iliad and the Odyssey. 
He died at his house in London, on May-day of 1700, and was buried 
with great pomp and splendour in Poets' Corner in "Westminster 
Abbey. 

13. His best satire is the Absalom and Achitophel ; his best 
specimen of reasoning in verse is The Hind and the Panther. 
His best ode is his Ode to the Memory of Mrs Anne Killigrew. 
Dryden's style is distinguished by its power, sweep, vigour, and 
"long majestic march." No one has handled the heroic couplet — 
and it was this form of verse that he chiefly used — with more vigour 
than Dryden ; Pope was more correct, more sparkling, more finished, 
but he had not Dryden's magnificent march or sweeping impulsiveness. 
" The fire and spirit of the ' Annus Mirabilis,' " says a recent critic, 
"are nothing short of amazing, when the difficulties which beset the 
author are remembered. The glorious dash of the performance is 
his own." His prose, though full of faults, is also very vigorous. 
It has " something of the lightning zigzag vigour and splendour of 
his verse." He always writes clear, homely, and pure English, — full 
of force and point. 

Many of his most pithy lines are often quoted : — 

"Men are but children of a larger growth." 

Errors, like straws, npon the surface flow ; 

He that would search for pearls must dive below." 

"The greatest argument for love is love." 

"The secret pleasure of the generous act, 
Is the great mind's great bribe." 

The great American critic and poet, Mr Lowell, compares him to 
"an ostrich, to be classed with flying things, and capable, what with 
leap and flap together, of leaving the earth for a longer or a shorter 
space, but loving the open plain, where wing and foot help each 
other to something that is both flight and run at once." 



14. Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), the greatest master of ornate 
and musical English prose in his own day, was born at Cambridge in 
the year 1613 — just three years before Shakespeare died. His father 
was a barber. After attending the free grammar-school of Cam- 
bridge, he proceeded to the University. He took holy orders and 
removed to London. When he was lecturing one day at St Paul's, 
Archbishop Laud was so taken by his "youthful beauty, pleasant 
air," fresh eloquence, and exuberant style, that he had him created 



$86 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

a Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford. When the Civil War broke 
out, he was taken prisoner by the Parliamentary forces ; and, in- 
deed, suffered imprisonment more than once. After the Eestoration, 
he was presented with a bishopric in Ireland, where he died in 
1667. 

15. Perhaps his best works are bis Holy Living and Holy Dying. 
His style is rich, even to luxury, full of the most imaginative illus- 
trations, and often overloaded with ornament. He has been called 
" the Shakespeare of English prose," " the Spenser of divinity," 
and by other appellations. The latter title is a very happy descrip- 
tion ; for he has the same wealth of style, phrase, and description 
that Spenser has, and the same boundless delight in setting forth his 
thoughts in a thousand different ways. The following is a specimen 
of his writing. He is speaking of a shipwreck : — 

" These are the thoughts of mortals, this is the end and sum of all their 
designs. A dark night and an ill guide*, a boisterous sea and a broken cable, 
a hard rock and a rough wind, dash in pieces the fortune of a whole family ; 
and they that shall weep loudest for the accident are not yet entered into the 
storm, and yet have suffered shipwreck." 

His writings contain many pithy statements. The following are 
a few of them : — 

" No man is poor that does not think himself so." 

" He that spends his time in sport and calls it recreation, is like him whoso 
garment is all made of fringe, and his meat nothing but sauce. 

" A good man is as much in awe of himself as of a whole assembly. 



16. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), a great philosopher, was born 
at Malmesbury in the year 1588. He is hence called " the philo- 
sopher of Malmesbury." He lived during the reigns of four Eng- 
lish sovereigns — Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and Charles II. ; 
and he was twenty - eight years of age when Shakespeare died. 
He is in many respects the type of the hard-working, long-lived, 
persistent Englishman. He was for many years tutor in the Devon- 
shire family — to the first Earl of Devonshire, and to the third Earl of 
Devonshire — and lived for several years at the family seat of Chats- 
worth. In his youth he was acquainted with Bacon and Ben Jonson ; 
in his middle age he knew Galileo in Italy ; and as he lived to the 
age of ninety -two, he might have conversed with John Locke or 
with Daniel Defoe. His greatest work is the Leviathan ; or, The 
Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth. His style 
is clear, manly, and vigorous. He tried to write poetry too. At 



THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 387 

the advanced age of eighty-five, ae wrote a translation of the whole 
of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into rhymed English verse, using 
the same quatrain and the same measure that Dryden employed 
in his 'Annus Mirabilis.' Two lines are still remembered of this 
translation : speaking of a child and his mother, he says — 

" And like a star upon her bosom lay 
His beautiful and shining golden head." 



17. John Bunyan (1628-1688), one of the most popular of our 
prose -writers, was born at Elstow, in Bedfordshire, in the year 
1628 — just three years before the birth of Dryden. He served, 
when a young man, with the Parliamentary forces, and was present 
at the siege of Leicester. At the Restoration, he was apprehended 
for preaching, in disobedience to the Conventicle Act, "was had 
home to prison, and there lay complete twelve years." Here he 
supported himself and his family by making tagged laces and other 
small-wares ; and here, too, he wrote the immortal Pilgrim's Pro- 
gress. After his release, he became pastor of the Baptist congre- 
gation at Bedford. He had a great power of bringing persons who 
had quarrelled together again; and he was so popular among those 
who knew him, that he was generally spoken of as " Bishop Bunyan." 
On a journey, undertaken to reconcile an estranged father and a rebel- 
lious son, he caught a severe cold, and died of fever in London, in the 
year 1688. Every one has read, or will read, the Pilgrim's Progress ; 
and it may be said, without exaggeration, that to him who has not 
read the book, a large part of English life and history is dumb and 
unintelligible. Bunyan has been called the " Spenser of the people," 
and " the greatest master of allegory that ever lived." His power 
of imagination is something wonderful; and his simple, homely, 
and vigorous style makes everything so real, that we seem to be 
reading a narrative of everyday events and conversations. His 
vocabulary is not, as Macaulay said, " the vocabulary of the common 
people;" rather should we say that his English is the English of 
the Bible and of the best religious writers. His style is, almost 
everywhere, simple, homely, earnest, and vernacular — without being 
vulgar. Bunyan's books have, along with Shakespeare and Tyndale's 
works, been among the chief supports of an idiomatic, nervous, and 
simple English. 



18. John Locke (1632-1704), a great English philosopher, was 
born at Wrington, near Bristol, in the year 1632. He was educated 



388 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

at Oxford ; but he took little interest in the Greek and Latin classics, 
his chief studies lying in medicine and the physical sciences. He 
became attached to the famous Lord Shaftesbury, under whom he 
filled several public offices — among others, that of Commissioner of 
Trade. When Shaftesbury was obliged to flee to Holland, Locke 
followed him, and spent several years in exile in that country. All 
his life a very delicate man, he yet, by dint of great care and thought- 
fulness, contrived to live to the age of seventy-two. His two most 
famous works are Some Thoughts concerning Education, and 
the celebrated Essay on the Human Understanding. The 
latter, which is his great work, occupied his time and thoughts for 
eighteen years. In both these books, Locke exhibits the very genius 
of common-sense. The purpose of education is, in his opinion, not 
to make learned men, but to maintain "a sound mind in a sound 
body ; " and he begins the education of the future man even from 
his cradle. In his philosophical writings, he is always simple ; but, 
as he is loose and vacillating in his use of terms, this simplicity is 
often purchased at the expense of exactness and self-consistency. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The Age of Prose. — The eighteenth century was an age 
of prose in two senses. In the first place, it was a prosaic age ; 
and, in the second place, better prose than poetry was pro- 
duced by its writers. One remarkable fact may also be noted 
about the chief prose-writers of this century— and that is, that 
they were, most of them, not merely able writers, not merely 
distinguished literary men, but also men of affairs — men well 
versed in the world and in matters of the highest practical 
moment, while some were also statesmen holding high office. 
Thus, in the first half of the centur}-, we find Addison, Swift, 
and Defoe either holding office or influencing and guiding 
those who held office ; while, in the latter half, we have men 
like Burke, Hume, and Gibbon, of whom the same, or nearly 
the same, can be said. The poets, on the contrary, of this 
eighteenth century, are all of them — with the very slightest 
exceptions — men who devoted most of their lives to poetry, 
and had little or nothing to do with practical matters. It 
may also be noted here that the character of the eighteenth 
century becomes more and more prosaic as it goes on — less and 
less under the influence of the spirit of poetry, until, about the 
close, a great reaction makes itself felt in the persons of Cowper, 
Chatterton, and Burns, of Crabbe and Wordsworth. 

2. The First Half. — The great prose-writers of the first half 
of the eighteenth century are Addison and Steele, Swift and 



390 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Defoe. All of these men had some more or less close con- 
nection with the rise of journalism in England ; and one of 
them, Defoe, was indeed the founder of the modern newspaper. 
By far the most powerful intellect of these four was Swift. 
The greatest poets of the first half of the eighteenth century 
were Pope, Thomson, Collins, and Gray. Pope towers above 
all of them by a head and shoulders, because he was much 
more fertile than any, and because he worked so hard and so 
untiringly at the labour of the file — at the task of polishing and 
improving his verses. But the vein of poetry in the three 
others — and more especially in Collins — was much more pure 
and genuine than it was in Pope at any time of his life— at any 
period of his writing. Let us look at each of these writers a 
little more closely. 

3. Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), one of the most fertile writers 
that England ever saw, and one who has been the delight of 
many generations of readers, was born in the city of London in the 
year 1661. He was educated to be a Dissenting minister ; but he 
turned from that profession to the pursuit of trade. He attempted 
several trades, — was a hosier, a hatter, a printer ; and he is said also 
to have been a brick and tile maker. In 1692 he failed in business ; 
but, in no long time after, he paid every one of his creditors to the 
uttermost farthing. Through all his labours and misfortunes he was 
always a hard and careful reader, — an omnivorous reader, too, for 
he was in the habit of reading almost every book that came in his 
way. He made his first reputation by writing political pamphlets. 
One of his pamphlets brought him into high favour with King 
William ; another had the effect of placing him in the pillory and 
lodging him in prison. But while in Newgate, he did not idle away 
his time or " languish " ; he set to work, wrote hard, and started a 
newspaper, The Review, — the earliest genuine newspaper Eng- 
land had seen up to his time. This paper he brought out two or 
three times a- week ; and every word of it he wrote himself. He 
continued to carry it on single-handed for eight years. In 1706, 
he was made a member of the Commission for bringing about the 
union between England and Scotland ; and his great knowledge of 
commerce and commercial affairs were of singular value to this Com- 
mission. In 1715 he had a dangerous illness, brought on by political 
excitement ; and, on his recovery, he gave up most of his political 



FIRST HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 391 

writing, and took to the composition of stories and romances. 
Although now a man of fifty-four, he wrote with the vigour and 
ease of a young man of thirty. His greatest imaginative work 
was written in 1719 — when he was nearly sixty — The Life and 
Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of 
York, Mariner, . . . written by Himself. Within six years 
he had produced twelve works of a similar kind. He is said to have 
written in all two hundred and fifty books in the course of his 
lifetime. He died in 1731. 

4. His best known — and it is also his greatest — work is Robinson 
Crusoe ; and this book, which every one has read, may be compared 
with ' Gulliver's Travels/ for the purpose of observing how imag- 
inative effects are produced by different means and in different ways. 
Another vigorous work of imagination by Defoe is the Journal of 
the Plague, which appeared in 1722. There are three chief things to 
be noted regarding Defoe and his writings. These are : first, that Defoe 
possessed an unparalleled knowledge — a knowledge wider than even 
Shakespeare's — of the circumstances and details of human life among 
all sorts, ranks, and conditions of men ; secondly, that he gains his 
wonderful realistic effects by the freest and most copious use of 
this detailed knowledge in his works of imagination ; and thirdly, 
that he possessed a vocabulary of the most wonderful wealth. His 
style is strong, homely, and vigorous, but the sentences are long, 
loose, clumsy, and sometimes ungrammatical. Like Sir Walter 
Scott, he was too eager to produce large and broad effects to take 
time to balance his clauses or to polish his sentences. . Like Sir 
Walter Scott, again, he possesses in the highest degree the art of 
particularising. 



5. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the greatest prose-writer, in 
his own kind, of the eighteenth century, and the opposite in most 
respects — especially in style — of Addison, was born in Dublin 
in the year 1667. Though born in Ireland, he was of purely 
English descent — his father belonging to a Yorkshire family, and 
his mother being a Leicestershire lady. His father died before he 
was born ; and he was educated by the kindness of an uncle. 
After being at a private school at Kilkenny, he was sent to Trinity 
College, Dublin, where he was plucked for his degree at his first 
examination, and, on a second trial, only obtained his B.A. "by 
special favour." He next came to England, and for eleven years 
acted as private secretary to Sir William Temple, a retired states- 
man and ambassador, who lived at Moor Park, near Kichmond-on- 



392 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Thames. In 1692 lie paid a visit to Oxford, and there obtained tha 
degree of M.A. In 1700 he went to Ireland with Lord Berkeley aa 
his chaplain, and while in that country was presented with several 
livings. He at first attached himself to the Whig party, but stung 
by this party's neglect of his labours and merits, he joined the 
Tories, who raised him to the Deanery of St Patrick's Cathedral in 
Dublin. But, though nominally resident in Dublin, he spent a large 
part of his time in London. Here he knew and met everybody 
who was worth knowing, and for some time he was the most im- 
posing figure, and wielded the greatest influence in all the best 
social, political, and literary circles of the capital. In 1714, on the 
death of Queen Anne, Swift's hopes of further advancement died 
out ; and he returned to his Deanery, settled in Dublin, and "com- 
menced Irishman for life." A man of strong passions, he usually 
spent his birthday in reading that chapter of the Book of Job which 
contains the verse, " Let the day perish in which I was born." He 
died insane in 1745, and left his fortune to found a lunatic asylum 
in Dublin. One day, when taking a walk with a friend, he saw a 
blasted elm, and, pointing to it, he said : " I shall be like that tree, 
and die first at the top." For the last three years of his life he never 
spoke one word. 

6. Swift has written verse ; but it is his prose-works that give 
him his high and unrivalled place in English literature. His most 
powerful work, published in 1704, is the Tale of a Tub — a satire 
on the disputes between the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Presby- 
terian Churches. His best known prose-work is the Gulliver's 
Travels, which appeared in 1726. This work is also a satire; but 
it is a satire on men and women, — on humanity. " The power of 
Swift's prose," it has been said by an able critic, " was the terror of 
his own, and remains the wonder of after times." His style is strong, 
simple, straightforward ; he uses the plainest words and the homeliest 
English, and every blow tells. Swift's style — as every genuine style 
does — reflects the author's character. He was an ardent lover and a 
good hater. Sir Walter Scott describes him as " tall, strong, and 
well made, dark in complexion, but with bright blue eyes (Pope said 
they were "as azure as the heavens"), black and bushy eyebrows, 
aquiline nose, and features which expressed the stern, haughty, and 
dauntless turn of his mind." He grew savage under the slightest 
contradiction ; and dukes and great lords were obliged to pay court 
to him. His prose was as trenchant and powerful as were his man- 
ners : it has been compared to " cold steel." His own definition 
of a good style is " proper words in proper places." 



FIEST HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 393 

7. Joseph Addison (1672-1719), the most elegant prose-writer — 
as Pope was the most polished verse-writer — of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, was born at Milston, in Wiltshire, in the year 1672. He was 
educated at Charterhouse School, in London, where one of his friends 
and companions was the celebrated Dick Steele — afterwards Sir 
Eichard Steele. He then went to Oxford, where he made a name for 
himself by his beautiful compositions in Latin verse. In 1695 he 
addressed a poem to King William ; and this poem brought him into 
notice with the Government of the day. Not long after, he received 
a pension of £300 a-year, to enable him to travel ; and he spent some 
time in France and Italy. The chief result of this tour was a poem 
entitled A Letter from Italy to Lord Halifax. In 1704, when 
Lord Godolphin was in search of a poet who should celebrate in an 
adequate style the striking victory of Blenheim, Addison was intro- 
duced to him by Lord Halifax. His . poem called The Campaign 
was the result ; and one simile in it took and held the attention 
of all English readers, and of "the town." A violent storm had 
passed over England ; and Addison compared the calm genius of 
Marlborough, who was as cool and serene amid shot and shell as in 
a drawing-room or at the dinner-table, to the Angel of the Storm, 
The lines are these : — 

"So when an Angel by divine command 
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, 
Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed, 
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; 
And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform, 
Eides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm." 

For this poem Addison was rewarded with the post of Commissioner 
of Appeals. He rose, successively, to be Under Secretary of State ; 
Secretary for Ireland ; and, finally, Secretary of State for England — 
an office which would correspond to that of our present Home 
Secretary. He married the Countess of Warwick, to whose son he 
had been tutor ; but it was not a happy marriage. Pope says of him 
in regard to it, that — ■ 

" He married discord in a noble wife." 

He died at Holland House, Kensington, London, in the year 1719, at 
the age of forty-seven. 

8. But it is not at all as a poet, but as a prose-writer, that Addison 
is famous in the history of literature. While he was in Ireland, 
his friend Steele started The Tatler, in 1709 ; and Addison sent 
numerous contributions to this little paper. In 1711, Steele began 
a still more famous paper, which he called The Spectator ; and 



394 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Addison's writings in this morning journal made its reputation. His 
contributions are distinguishable by being signed with some one of the 
letters of the name Clio — the Muse of History. A third paper, The 
Guardian, appeared a few years after ; and Addison's contributions 
to it are designated by a hand (^T) at the foot of each. In addition 
to his numerous prose-writings, Addison brought out the tragedy of 
Cato in 1713. It was very successful ; but it is now neither read 
nor acted. Some of his hymns, however, are beautiful, and are well 
known. Such are the hymn beginning, " The spacious firmament 
on high ; " and his version of the 23d Psalm, " The Lord my pasture 
shall prepare." 

9. Addison's prose style is inimitable, easy, graceful, full of humour 
— full of good humour, delicate, with a sweet and kindly rhythm, 
and always musical to the ear. He is the most graceful of social 
satirists ; and his genial creation of the character of Sir Roger de 
Coverley will live for ever. While his work in verse is never 
more than second-rate, his writings in prose are always first-rate. 
Dr Johnson said of his prose : " Whoever wishes to attain an English. 
style — familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, 
— must give his days and nights to the study of Addison." Lord 
Lytton also remarks : " His style has that nameless urbanity in 
which we recognise the perfection of manner ; courteous, but not 
courtier-like ; so dignified, yet so kindly ; so easy, yet high-bred. 
It is the most perfect form of English." His style, however, must 
be acknowledged to want force — to be easy rather than vigorous ; 
and it has not the splendid march of Jeremy Taylor, or the noble 
power of Savage Landor. 



10. Richard Steele (1671-1729), commonly called " Dick Steele," 
the friend and colleague of Addison, was born in Dublin, but of 
English parents, in the year 1671. The two friends were educated 
at Charterhouse and at Oxford together ; and they remained friends, 
with some slight breaks and breezes, to the close of life. Steele 
was a writer of plays, essays, and pamphlets — for one of which he 
was expelled from the House of Commons ; but his chief fame was 
earned in connection with the Society Journals, which he founded. 
He started many — such as Town-Talk, The Tea-Table, Chit- 
chat; but only the Tatler and the Spectator rose to success and 
to fame. The strongest quality in his writings is his pathos : the 
source of tears is always at his command ; and, although himself 
of a gay and even rollicking temperament, he seems to have pre- 
ferred this vein. The literary skill of Addison — his happy art in 



FIRST HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 395 

the choosing of words — did not fall to the lot of Steele ; but he 
is more hearty and more human in his description of character. Ho 
died in 1729, ten years after the departure of his friend Addison. 



11. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the greatest poet of the 
eighteenth century, was born in Lombard Street, London, in the 
year of the Eevolution, 1688. His father was a wholesale linendraper, 
who, having amassed a fortune, retired to Binfield, on the borders ol 
Windsor Forest. . In the heart of this beautiful country young Pope's 
youth was spent. On the death of his father, Pope left Windsor 
and took up his residence at Twickenham, on the banks of the 
Thames, where he remained till his death in 1744. His parents 
being Koman Catholics, it was impossible for young Pope to go either 
to a public school or to one of the universities ; and hence he was 
educated privately. At the early age of eight, he met with a trans- 
lation of Homer in verse ; and this volume became his companion 
night and day. At the age of ten, he turned some of the events 
described in Homer into a play. The poems of Spenser, the poets' 
poet, were his next favourites ; but the writer who made the deepest 
and most lasting impression upon his mind was Dryden. Little 
Pope began to write verse very early. He says of himself — 

" As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, 
I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came." 

His Ode to Solitude was written at the age of twelve ; his Pas- 
torals when he was fifteen. His Essay on Criticism, which was 
composed in his twentieth year, though not published till 1711, 
established his reputation as a writer of neat, clear, sparkling, and 
elegant verse. The Rape of the Lock raised his reputation still 
higher. Macaulay pronounced it his best poem. De Quincey 
declared it to be "the most exquisite monument of playful fancy 
that universal literature offers." Another critic has called it the 
"perfection of the mock-heroic." Pope's most successful poem — if 
we measure it by the fame and the money it brought him — was his 
translation of the Iliad of Homer. A great scholar said of this 
translation that it was " a very pretty poem, but not Homer." The 
fact is that Pope did not translate directly from the Greek, but from 
a French or a Latin version which he kept beside him. Whatever 
its faults, and however great its deficiency as a representation of the 
powerful and deep simplicity of the original Greek, no one can deny 
the charm and finish of its versification, or the rapidity, facility, and 
melody of the flow of the verse. These qualities make this work 
unique in English poetry. 



396 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

12. After finishing the Iliad, Pope undertook a translation of the 
Odyssey of Homer. This was not so successful ; nor was it so well 
done. In fact, Pope translated only half of it himself ; the other 
half was written by two scholars called Broome and Fenton. His 
next great poem was the Dunciad, — a satire upon those petty writers, 
carping critics, and hired defamers who had tried to write down the 
reputation of Pope's Homeric work. "The composition of the 
' Dunciad ' revealed to Pope where his true strength lay, in Mending 
personalities with moral reflections." 

13. Pope's greatest works were written between 1730 and 1740 ; 
j,nd they consist of the Moral Essays, the Essay on Man, and the 
Epistles and Satires. These poems are full of the finest thoughts, 
expressed in the most perfect form. Mr Ruskin quotes the 
couplet — 

" Never elated, while one man's oppressed ; 
Never dejected, whilst another's blessed," — 

as " the most complete, concise, and lofty expression of moral temper 
existing in English words." The poem of Pope which shows his best 
and most striking qualities in their most characteristic form, is 
probably the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot or Prologue to the 
Satires. In this poem occur the celebrated lines about Addison — 
which make a perfect portrait, although it is far from being a true 
likeness^ 

His pithy lines and couplets have obtained a permanent place in 
literature. Thus we have :— 

" True wit is nature to advantage dressed, 
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed." 

" Good-nature and good-sense must ever join. 
To err is human, to forgive divine." 

" All seems infected that the infected spy, 
As all looks yellow to the jaundic'd eye." 

" Fear not the anger of the wise to raise ; 
Those best can bear reproof who merit praise." 

The greatest conciseness is visible in his epigrams and in his com- 
pliments : — 

" A vile encomium doubly ridicules : 

There's nothing blackens like the ink of fools." 

" And not a vanity is given in vain." 

" Would ye be blest ? despise low joys, low gains, 
Disdain whatever Cornbury disdains, 
Be virtuous, and be hapj)y for your pains." 



FIEST HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 397 

14. Pope is the foremost literary figure of his age and century ; 
and he is also the head of a- school. He brought to perfection a style 
of writing verse which was followed by hundreds of clever writers. 
Cowper says of him . — 

" But Pope — his musical finesse was such, 
So nice his ear, so delicate his touch, — 
Made poetry a mere mechanic art, 
And every warbler has his tune by heart." 

Pope was not the poet of nature or of humanity ; he was the poet of 
" the town," and of the Court. He was greatly influenced by the 
neatness and polish of French verse ; and, from his boyhood, his 
great ambition was to be " a correct poet." He worked and worked, 
polished and polished, until each idea had received at his hands 
its very neatest and most epigrammatic expression. In the art of 
condensed, compact, pointed, and yet harmonious and flowing verse, 
Pope has no equal. But, as a vehicle for poetry — for the love and 
sympathy with nature and man which every true poet must feel, 
Pope's verse is artificial ; and its style of expression has now died 
out. It was one of the chief missions of Wordsworth to drive the 
Popian second-hand vocabulary out of existence. 



15. James Thomson (1700-1748), the poet of The Seasons, was 
born at Ednam in Roxburghshire, Scotland, in the year 1700. He 
was educated at the grammar-school of Jedburgh, and then at the 
University of Edinburgh. It was intended that he should enter the 
ministry of the Church of Scotland ; but, before his college course 
was finished, he had given up this idea : poetry proved for him too 
strong a magnet. While yet a young man, he had written his poem 
of Winter ; and, with that in his pocket, he resolved to try his 
fortune in London. While walking about the streets, looking at the 
shops, and gazing at the new wonders of the vast metropolis, his 
pocket was picked of his pocket-handkerchief and his letters of 
introduction ; and he found himself alone in London — thrown 
entirely on his own resources. A publisher was, however, in time 
round for Winter ; and the poem slowly rose into appreciation and 
popularity. This was in 1726. Next year, Summer ; two years 
after, Spring appeared ; while Autumn, in 1730, completed the 
Seasons. The Castle of Indolence — a poem in the Spenserian 
stanza — appeared in 1748. In the same year he was appointed 
Surveyor- General of the Leeward Islands, though he never visited 
the scene of his duty, but had his work done by deputy. He died 
t Kew in the year 174S. 



398 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

16. Thomson's place as a poet is high in the second rank. His 
Seasons have always been popular; and, when Coleridge found a 
well-thumbed and thickly dog's-eared copy lying on the window-sill 
of a country inn, he exclaimed " This is true fame ! " His Castle 
of Indolence is, however, a finer piece of poetical work than any 
of his other writings. The first canto is the best. But the Seasons 
have been much more widely read ; and a modern critic says : " No 
poet has given the special pleasure which poetry is capable of giving 
to so large a number of persons in so large a measure as Thomson." 
Thomson is very unequal in his style. Sometimes he rises to a great 
height of inspired expression ; at other times he sinks to a dull dead 
level of pedestrian prose. His power of describing scenery is often 
very remarkable. Professor Craik says : " There is no other poet 
who surrounds us with so much of the truth of nature ; " and he 
calls the Castle of Indolence " one of the gems of the language." 



17. Thomas Gray (1716-1771), the greatest elegiac poet of the 
century, was born in London in 1716. His father was a "money- 
scrivener," as it was called ; in other words, he was a stock- 
broker. His mother's brother was an assistant - master at Eton ; 
and at Eton, under the care of this uncle, Gray was brought 
up. One of his schoolfellows was the famous Horace Wal- 
pole. After leaving school, Gray proceeded to Cambridge ; but, 
instead of reading mathematics, he studied classical literature, 
history, and modern languages, and never took his degree. After 
some years spent at Cambridge, he entered himself of the Inner 
Temple ; but he never gave much time to the study of law. His 
father died in 1741; and Gray, soon after, gave up the law and 
went to live entirely at Cambridge. The first published of his 
poems was the Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College. 
The Elegy written in a Country Churchyard was handed about 
in manuscript before its publication in 1750 ; and it made his 
reputation at once. In 1755 the Progress of Poesy was published ; 
and the ode entitled The Bard was' begun. In 1768 he was ap- 
pointed Professor of Modern History at Cambridge ; but, though he 
studied hard, he never lectured. He died at Cambridge, at the age 
of fifty-four, in the year 1771. Gray was never married. He was 
said by those who knew him to be the most learned man of his time 
in Europe. Literature, history, and several sciences — all were thor- 
oughly known to him. He had read everything in the world that 
was best worth reading ; while his knowledge of botany, zoology, 
and entomology was both wide and exact. 



FIRST HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 399 

18. Cray's Elegy took him seven years to write ; it contains thirty- 
two stanzas ; and Mr Palgrave says " they are perhaps the noblest 
stanzas in the language." General Wolfe, when sailing down to 
attack Quebec, recited the Elegy to his officers, and declared, " Now, 
gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take 
Quebec." Lord Byron called the Elegy " the corner-stone of Gray'? 
poetry." Gray ranks with Milton as the most finished workman in 
English verse ; and certainly he spared no pains. Gray said himself 
that " the style he aimed at was extreme conciseness of expression, 
yet pure, perspicuous, and musical ; " and this style, at which he 
aimed, he succeeded fully in achieving. One of the finest stanzas 
in the whole Elegy is the last, which the writer omitted in all the 
later editions :— 

" There scattered oft, the earliest of the year, 

By hands unseen, are showers of violets found ; 
The red-breast loves to build and warble there, 
And little footsteps lightly print the ground." 



19. William Collins (1721-1759), one of the truest lyrical poets 
of the century, was born at Chichester on Christmas-day, 1721. 
He was educated at Winchester School ; afterwards at Queen's, 
and also at Magdalen College, Oxford. Before he left school he 
had written a set of poems called Persian Eclogues. He left 
the university with a reputation for ability and for indolence ; 
went to London " with many projects in his head and little money 
in his pocket ; " and there found a kind and fast friend in Dr 
Johnson. His Odes appeared in 1747. The volume fell still- 
born from the press : not a single copy was sold ; no one bought, 
read, or noticed it. In a fit of furious despair, the unhappy author 
called in the whole edition and burnt every copy with his own 
hands. And yet it was, with the single exception of the songs of 
Burns, the truest poetry that had appeared in the whole of the 
eighteenth century. A great critic says : " In the little book there 
was hardly a single false note : there was, above all things, a purity 
of music, a clarity of style, to which I know of no parallel in 
English verse from the death of Andrew Marvell to the birth of 
William Blake." Soon after this great disappointment he went to 
live at Richmond, where he formed a friendship with Thomson 
and other poets. In 1749 he wrote the Ode on the Death of 
Thomson, beginning — 

"In yonder grave a Druid lies" — 
one of the finest of his poems. Not long after, he was attacked by a 



400 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

disease of the brain, from which he suffered, at intervals, during the 
remainder of his short life.- He died at Chichester in 1759, at the 
age of thirty-eight. 

20. Collins's best poem is the Ode to Evening ; his most elab- 
orate, the Ode on the Passions ; and his best known, the Ode 
beginning — 

" How sleep the brave, who sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blessed ! " 

His latest and best critic says of his poems : " His range of 
flight was perhaps the narrowest, but assuredly the highest, of 
his generation. He could not be taught singing like a finch, but 
he struck straight upward for the 'sun like a lark. . . . The direct 
sincerity and purity of their positive and straightforward inspiration 
will always keep his poems fresh and sweet in the senses of all men. 
He was a sdlitary song-bird among many more or less excellent 
pipers and pianists. He could put more spirit of colour into a single 
stroke, more breath of music into a single note, than could all the 
rest of his generation into all the labours of their lives." 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. Prose - Writers. — The four greatest prose-writers of the 
latter half of the eighteenth century are Johnson, Goldsmith, 
Burke, and Gibbon. Dr Johnson was the most prominent 
literary figure in London at this period ; and filled in his own 
time much the same position in literary circles as Carlyle held 
later on. He wrote on many subjects — but chiefly on literature 
;md morals ; and hence he was called " The Great Moralist." 
Goldsmith stands out clearly as the writer of the most pleasant 
and easy prose ; his pen was ready for any subject ; and it has 
been said of him with perfect truth, that he touched nothing 
that he did not adorn. Burke was the most eloquent writer 
of his time, and by far the greatest political thinker that 
England has ever produced. He is known by an essay he 
wrote when a very young man — on " The Sublime and Beauti- 
ful " ; but it is to his speeches and political writings that we 
must look for his noblest thoughts and most eloquent language. 
Gibbon is one of the greatest historians and most powerful 
writers the world has ever seen. 



2. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), the great essayist and lexico- 
grapher, -was born at Lichfield in the year 1709. His father was a 
bookseller ; and it was in his father's shop that Johnson acquired 
his habit of omnivorous reading, or rather devouring of books. The 
mistress of the dame's school, to which he first went, declared him 



402 



HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



to be the best scholar she ever had. After a few yeais at the free 
grammar-school of Lichfield, and one year at Stourbridge, he went 
to Pembroke College, Oxford, at the age of nineteen. Here he did 
not confine himself to the studies of the place, but indulged in a 
wide range of miscellaneous reading. He was too poor to take a 
degree, and accordingly left Oxford without graduating. After 
acting for some time as a bookseller's hack, he married a Mrs Porter 
of Birmingham— a widow with £800. With this money he opened a 
boarding-school, or " academy " as he called it ; but he had never more 
than three scholars — the most famous of whom was the celebrated 
player, David Garrick. In 1737 he went up to London, and for 
the next quarter of a century struggled for a living by the aid of 
his pen. During the first ten years of his London life he wrote 
chiefly for the ' Gentleman's Magazine.' In 1738 his London — 
a poem in heroic metre — appeared. In 1747 he began his famous 
Dictionary; it was completed in 1755 ; and the University of 
Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of M.A. In 1749 he 
wrote another poem — also in heroic metre — the ' Vanity of Human 
Wishes.' In 1750 he had begun the periodical that raised his fame 
to its full height — a periodical to which he gave the name of The 
Rambler. It appeared twice a-week ; and Dr Johnson wrote 
every article in it for two years. In 1759 he published the short 
novel called Rasselas : it was written to defray the expenses of his 
mother's funeral ; and he wrote it " in the evenings of a week." 
The year 1762 saw him with a pension from the Government of 
£300 a-year ; and henceforth he was free from heavy hack-work and 
literary drudgery, and could give himself up to the largest enjoy- 
ment of that for which he cared most — social conversation. He was 
the best talker of his time ; and he knew everybody worth knowing 
— Burke, Goldsmith, Gibbon, the great painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
and many other able men. In 1764 he founded the " Literary Club," 
which still exists and meets in London. Oddly enough, although a 
prolific writer, it is to another person — to Mr James Boswell, who 
first met him in 1763 — that he owes his greatest and most lasting 
fame. A much larger number of persons read Boswell's Life of 
Johnson — one of the most entertaining books in all literature — 
than Johnson's own works. Between the years 1779 and 1781 
appeared his last and ablest work, The Lives of the Poets, which 
were written as prefaces to a collective edition of the English Poets, 
published by several London booksellers. He died in 1784. 

3. Johnson's earlier style was full of Latin words ; his later style 
is more purely English than most of the journalistic writing of the 
present day. His Rambler is full of "long-tailed words in osity and 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 403 

ation;" but his ' Lives of the Poets ' is written in manly, vigorous, and 
idiomatic English. In verse, he occupies a place between Pope and 
Goldsmith, and is one of the masters in the "didactic school" of 
English poetry. His rhythm and periods are swelling and sonorous; 
and here and there he equals Pope in the terseness and condensation 
of his language. The following is a fair specimen : — 

" Of all the griefs that harass the distressed, 
Sure the most hitter is a scornful jest ; 
Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart, 
Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart." 



4. Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), poet, essayist, historian, and 
dramatist, was born at Pallas, in the county of Longford, Ireland, in 
the year 1728. His father was an Irish clergyman, careless, good- 
hearted, and the original of the famous Dr Primrose, in The Vicar 
of Wakefield. He was also the original of the " village preacher " 
in The Deserted Village. 

"A man he was to all the country dear, 
And passing rich with forty pounds a-year." 

Oliver was educated at Trinity College, Dublin ; but he left it 
with no fixed aim. He thought of law, and set off for London, but 
spent all his money in Dublin. He thought of medicine, and resided 
two years in Edinburgh. He started for Leyden, in Holland, to 
continue what he called his medical studies ; but he had a thirst to 
see the world — and so, with a guinea in his pocket, one shirt, and a 
flute, he set out on his travels through the continent of Europe. At 
length, on the 1st of February 1756, he landed at Dover, after an 
absence of two years, without a farthing in his pocket. London 
reached, he tried many ways of making a living, as assistant to an 
apothecary, physician, reader for the press, usher in a school, writer 
in journals. His first work was ' An Inquiry into the State of 
Polite Learning in Europe,' in 1759 ; but it appeared without his 
name. From that date he wrote books of all kinds, poems, and 
plays. He died in his chambers in Brick Court, Temple, London, in 
1774. 

5. Goldsmith's best poems are The Traveller and The Deserted 
Village, — both written in the Popian couplet. His best play is 
She Stoops to Conquer. His best prose work is The Vicar of 
Wakefield, "the first genuine novel of domestic life." He also 
wrote histories of England, of Pome, of Animated Nature. All 
this was done as professional, nay, almost as hack work ; but 



404 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

always in a very pleasant, lively, and readable style. Ease, grace, 
charm, naturalness, pleasant rhythm, purity of diction — these were 
the chief characteristics of his writings. " Almost to all things could 
he turn his hand " — poem, essay, play, story, history, natural science. 
Even when satirical, he was good-natured ; and his Retaliation is 
the friendliest and pleasantest of satires. In his poetry, his words 
seem artless, but are indeed delicately chosen with that consummate 
art which conceals and effaces itself : where he seems most simple 
and easy, there he has taken most pains and given most labour. 



6. Edmund Burke (1730-1797) was born at Dublin in the year 
1730. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin; and in 1747 
was entered of the Middle Temple, with the purpose of reading 
for the Bar. In 1766- he was so fortunate as to enter Parliament 
as member for Wendover, in Buckinghamshire ; and he sat in 
the House of Commons for nearly thirty years. While in Par- 
liament, he worked hard to obtain justice for the colonists of 
North America, and to avert the separation of them from the 
mother country ; and also to secure good government for India. 
At the close of his life, it was his intention to take his seat in the 
House of Peers as Earl Beaconsfield — the title afterwards assumed by 
Mr Disraeli; but the death of his son, and only child — for whom 
the honour was really meant and wished — quite broke his heart, 
and he never carried out his purpose. He died at Beaconsfield in 
the year 1797. The lines of Goldsmith on Burke, in his poem of 
" Retaliation," are well known : — 

" Here lies cmr good Edmund, whose genius was such 
We scarcely can praise it or bla/ne it too much ; 
Who, horn for the universe, narrowed his mind, 
And to party gave up what was meant for mankind ; 
Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, 
And thought of convincing while they thought of dining." 

7. Burke's most famous writings are Thoughts on the Cause of 
the present Discontents, published in 1773 ; Reflections on the 
French Revolution (1790) ; and the Letters on a Regicide 
Peace (1797). His " Thoughts " is perhaps the best of his works in 
point of style ; his " Reflections," are full of passages of the highest 
and most noble eloquence. Burke has been described by a great critic 
as " the supreme writer of the century ; " and Macaulay says, that 
"in richness of imagination, he is superior to every orator ancient 
ind modern." In the power of expressing thought in the strongest, 
fullest, and most vivid manner, he must be classed with Shakespeare 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTUKY. 405 

and Bacon — and with these writers when at their best. He indulges 
in repetitions ; but the repetitions are never monotonous ; they serve 
to place the subject in every possible point of view, and to enable us 
to see all sides of it. He possessed an enormous vocabulary, and had 
the fullest power over it ; " never was a man under whose hands 
language was more plastic and ductile." He is very fond of met- 
aphor, and is described by an able critic as "the greatest master of 
metaphor that the world has ever seen." 



8. Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), the second great prose-writer 
of the second half of the eighteenth century, was born at Putney, 
London, in 1737. His father was a wealthy landowner. Young 
Gibbon was a very sickly child — the only survivor of a delicate 
family of seven ; he was left to pass his time as he pleased, and 
for the most part to educate himself. But he had the run of 
several good libraries ; and he was an eager and never satiated reader. 
He was sent to Oxford at the early age of fifteen ; and so full was his 
knowledge in some directions, and so defective in others, that he 
went there, he tells us himself, "with a stock of knowledge that 
might have puzzled a doctor, and a degree of ignorance of which a 
schoolboy would have been ashamed." He was very fond of dis- 
putation while at Oxford; and the Dons of the University were 
astonished to see the pathetic " thin little figure, with a large head, 
disputing and arguing with the greatest ability." In the course 
of his reading, he lighted on some French and English books that 
convinced him for the time of the truth of the Roman Catholic 
faith ; he openly professed his change of belief ; and this obliged 
him to leave the University. His father sent him to Lausanne, 
and placed him under the care of a Swiss clergyman there, whose 
arguments were at length successful in bringing him back to a 
belief in Protestantism. On his return to England in 1758, he 
lived in his father's house in Hampshire; read largely, as usual; 
but also joined the Hampshire militia as captain of a company, and 
the exercises and manoeuvres of his regiment gave him an. insight 
into military matters which was afterwards useful to him when 
he came to write history. He published his first work in 1761. It 
was an essay on the study of literature, and was written in French. 
In 1770 his father died ; he came into a fortune, entered Parliament, 
where he sat for eight years, but never spoke ; and, in 1776, he 
began his history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em- 
pire. This, by far the greatest of his works, was not completed till 
1787, and was published in 1788, on hi3 fifty-first birthday. His 



406 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

account of the completion of the work — it was finished at Lausanne, 
where he had lived for six years — is full of beauty : " It was on the 
day, or rather night, of June 27, 1787, between the hours of eleven 
and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page in a summer- 
house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took several 
turns in a covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of 
the country, the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, 
the sky was serene. The silver orb of the moon was reflected from 
the waters, and all nature was silent. I will not describe the first 
emotion of joy on the recovery of my freedom, and perhaps the 
establishment of my fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and 
a sober melancholy was spread over my mind by the idea that I had 
taken an everlasting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and 
that, whatever might be the future fate of my history, the life of 
the historian must be short and precarious." Gibbon died in 1794, 
about one year before the birth of another great historian, Grote, the 
author of the ' History of Greece.' 

9. Gibbon's book is one of the great historical works of the world. 
It covers a space of about thirteen centuries, from the reign of 
Trajan (98), to the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453 ; and the 
amount of reading and study required to write it, must have been 
almost beyond the power of our conceiving. The skill in arranging 
and disposing the enormous mass of matter in his history is also 
unparalleled. His style is said by a critic to be " copious, splendid, 
elegantly rounded, distinguished by supreme artificial skill." It is 
remarkable for the proportion of Latin words employed. While 
some parts of our translation of the Bible contain as much as 96 
per cent of pure English words, Gibbon has only 58 per cent : the 
rest, or 42 per cent, are words of Latin origin. In fact, of all our 
great English writers, Gibbon stands lowest in his use of pure English 
words ; and the two writers who come nearest him in this respect 
are Johnson and Swift. The great Greek scholar, Professor Porson, 
said of Gibbon's style, that " there could not be a better exercise foi 
a schoolboy than to turn a page of it into English." 

10. Poets. — The chief poets of the latter half of the eighteenth 
century belong to a new world, and show very little trace in 
their writings of eighteenth-century culture, ideas, or prejudices. 
Most of the best poets who were born in this half of the eight- 
eenth century and began to write in it — such as Crabbe and 
Wordsworth — are true denizens, in the character of their minds 
and feelings, of the nineteenth. The greatest ooets of tke 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 407 

period are Cowper, Crabbe, and Burns ; and along with these 
may be mentioned as little inferior, Chatterton and Blake, 
two of the most original poets that have appeared in any 
literature. 



11. William Cowper (1731-1800), one of the truest, purest, and 
sweetest of English poets, was born at Great Berkhampstead, in 
Hertfordshire, in 1731. His father, Dr Cowper, who was a nephew 
of Lord Chancellor Cowper, was rector of the parish, and chaplain 
to George II. Young Cowper was educated at Westminster School ; 
and "the great proconsul of India," Warren Hastings, was one 
of his schoolfellows. After leaving Westminster, he was entered 
of the Middle Temple, and was also articled to a solicitor. At the 
age of thirty-one he was appointed one of the Clerks to the House of 
Lords ; but he was so terribly nervous and timid, that he threw up the 
appointment. He was next appointed Clerk of the Journals — a \ ost 
which even the shyest man might hold ; but, when he found that he 
would have to appear at the bar of the House of Lords, he went home 
and attempted to commit suicide. When at school, he had been ter- 
ribly and persistently bullied ; and, about this time, his mind had 
been somewhat affected by a disappointment in love. The form of 
his insanity was melancholia ; and he had several long and severe 
attacks of the same disease in the after-course of his life. He had to 
be placed in the keeping of a physician ; and it was only after fifteen 
months' seclusion that he was able to face the world. Giving up all 
idea of professional or of public life, he went to live at Huntingdon 
with the Unwins ; and, after the death of Mr Unwin, he removed 
with Mrs Unwin to Olney, in Buckinghamshire. Here, in 1773, 
another attack of melancholia came upon him. In 1779, Cowper 
joined with Mr Newton, the curate of the parish, in publishing the 
Olney Hymns, of which he wrote sixty-eight. But it was not till 
he was past fifty years of age that he betook himself seriously to the 
writing of poetry. His first volume, which contained Table-Talk, 
Conversation, Retirement, and other poems in heroic metre, ap- 
peared in 1782. His second volume, which included The Task and 
John Gilpin, was published in 1785. His translation of the Iliad 
and Odyssey of Homer — a translation into blank verse, which he 
wrote at the regular rate of forty lines a-day — was published in 1791. 
Mrs Unwin now had a shock of paralysis ; Cowper himself was again 
seized with mental illness ; and from 1791 till his death in 1800, 
his condition was one of extreme misery, depression, and despair. 
He thought himself an outcast from the mercy of God. " I seem to 



408 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

myself," he wrote to a friend, " to be scrambling always in the dark, 
among rocks and precipices, without a guide, but with an enemy ever 
at my heels, prepared to push me headlong." The cloud never lifted ; 
gloom and dejection enshrouded all his later years ; a pension of 
£300 a-year from George III. brought him no pleasure ; and he died 
insane, at East Dereham, in Norfolk, in the year 1800. In the poem 
of The Castaway he compares himself to a drowning sailor : — 

" No voice divine the storm allayed, 

No light propitious shone, 
When, far from all effectual aid, 

We perished — each alone — 
But I beneath a rougher sea, 
And whelmed in blacker gulfs than he." 

12. His greatest work is The Task; and the best poem in it is 
probably " The Winter Evening." His best-known poem is John 
Gilpin, which, like " The Task," he wrote at the request of his 
friend, Lady Austen. His most powerful poem is The Castaway. 
He always writes in clear, crisp, pleasant, and manly English. He 
himself says, in a letter to a friend : " Perspicuity is always more 
than half the battle. . . A meaning that does not stare you in the 
face is as bad as no meaning ; " and this direction he himself always 
carried out. Cowper's poems mark a new era in poetry ; his style 
is new, and his ideas are new. He is no follower of Pope ; Southey 
compared Pope and Cowper as " formal gardens in comparison 
with woodland scenery." He is always original, always true — 
true to his own feeling, and true to the object he is describing. 
" My descriptions," he writes of " The Task," " are all from nature ; 
not one of them second-handed. My delineations of the heart are 
from my own experience." Everywhere in his poems we find a 
genuine love of nature ; humour and pathos in his description of 
persons ; and a purity and honesty of style that have never been 
surpassed. Many of his well-put lines have passed into our common 
stock of everyday quotations. Such are — 

" God made the country, and man made the town." 

" Variety's the very spice of life 
That gives it all its flavour." 

" The heart 
May give a useful lesson to the head, 
And Learning wiser grow without his books." 

" Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, 
Live till to-morrow, will have passed away." 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 409 

13. George Crabbe (1754-1832), the poet of the poor, was born 
at Aldborough, in Suffolk, on Christmas Eve of the year 1754. He 
stands thus midway between Goldsmith and Wordsworth — mid- 
way between the old and the new school of poetry. His father 
was salt-master — or collector of salt duties — at the little seaport. 
After being taught a little at several schools, it was agreed that 
George should be made a surgeon. He was accordingly apprenticed ; 
but he was fonder of writing verses than of attending cases. His 
memory for poetry was astonishing ; he had begun to write verses 
at the age of fourteen ; and he filled the drawers of the surgery with 
his poetical attempts. After a time lie set up for himself in practice 
at Aldborough ; but most of his patients were poor people and poor 
relations, who paid him neither for his physic nor his advice. In 
1779 he resolved "to go to London and venture all." Accordingly, 
he took a berth on board of a sailing-packet, carrying with him a 
little money and a number of manuscript poems. But nothing suc- 
ceeded with him ; he was reduced to his last eightpence. In this 
strait, he wrote to the great statesman, Edmund Burke ; and, while 
the answer was coming, he walked all night up and down West- 
minster Bridge. Burke took him in to his own house and found 
a publisher for his poems. 

14. In 1781 The Library appeared ; and in the same year 
Crabbe entered the Church. In 1783 he published The "Village — • 
a poem which Dr Johnson revised for him. This work won for him 
an established reputation ; but, for twenty-four years after, Crabbe 
gave himself up entirely to the care of his parish, and published 
only one poem — The Newspaper. In 1807 appeared The Parish 
Register; in 1810, The Borough; in 1812, Tales in Verse; 
and, in 1819, his last poetical work, Tales of the Hall. From this 
time, till his death in 1832 — thirteen years after — he produced no other 
poem. Personally, he was one of the noblest and kindest of men ; 
he was known as " the gentleman with the sour name and the sweet 
countenance ; " and he spent most of his income on the wants of others. 

15. Crabbe's poetical work forms a prominent landmark in 
English literature. His style is the style of the eighteenth century 
— with a strong admixture of his own ; his way of thinking, and the 
objects he selects for description, belong to the nineteenth. While 
Pope depicted " the town," politics, and abstract moralities, Crabbe 
describes the country and the country poor, social matters, real life — 
the lowest and poorest life, and more especially, the intense misery 
of the village population of his time in the eastern counties — 

"the wild amphibious race 
With sullen woe displayed in every face." 



410 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

He does not paint the lot of the poor with the rose-coloured tints 
used by Goldsmith ; he boldly denies the existence of such a village 
as Auburn ; he groups such places with Eden, and says — 

"Auburn and Eden can be found no more;" 

he shows the gloomy, hard, despairing side of English country life. 
He has been called a " Pope in worsted stockings," and " the Hogarth 
of song." Byron describes him as 

"Nature's sternest painter, yet the best." 

Now and then his style is flat, and even coarse ; but there is every- 
where a genuine power of strong and bold painting. He is also 
an excellent master of easy dialogue. 

All of his poems are written in the Popian couplet of two ten- 
syllabled lines. 



16. Eobert Burns (1759-1796), the greatest poet of Scotland, was 
born in Ayrshire, two miles from the town of Ayr, in 1759. The 
only education he received from his father was the schooling of a 
few months ; but the family were fond of reading, and Eobert was 
the most enthusiastic reader of them all. Every spare moment he 
could find — and they were not many — he gave to reading ; he sat at 
meals "with a book in one hand and a spoon in the other;" and in 
this way he read most of the great English poets and prose-writers. 
This was an excellent education — one a great deal better than most 
people receive ; and some of our greatest men have had no better. 
But, up to the age of sixteen, he had to toil on his father's farm from 
early morning till late at night. In the intervals of his work he con- 
trived, by dint of thrift and industry, to learn French, mathematics, 
and a little Latin. On the death of his father, he took a small farm, 
but did not succeed. He was on the point of embarking for Jamaica, 
where a post had been found for him, when the news of the success- 
ful sale of a small volume of his poems reached him ; and he at once 
changed his mind, and gave up all idea of emigrating. His friends 
obtained for him a post as exciseman, in which his duty was to 
gauge the quantity and quality of ardent spirits — a post full of 
dangers to a man of his excitable and emotional temperament. He 
went a great deal into what was called society, formed the acquaint- 
ance of many boon companions, acquired habits of intemperance that 
he could not shake off, and died at Dumfries in 1796, in his thirty- 
seventh year. 

17. His best poems are lyrical, and he is himself one of the fore- 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 41 1 

most lyrical poets in the world. His songs have probably been more 
sung, and in more parts of the globe, than the songs of any other 
writer that ever lived. They are of every kind — songs of love, war, 
mirth, sorrow, labour, and social gatherings. Professor Craik says : 
" One characteristic that belongs to whatever Burns has written is 
that, of its kind and in its own way, it is a perfect production. His 
poetry is, throughout, real emotion melodiously uttered, instinct with 
passion, but not less so with power of thought, — full of light as well 
as of fire." Most of his poems are written in the North-English, or 
Lowland - Scottish, dialect. The most elevated of his poems is 
The Vision, in which he relates how the Scottish Muse found him 
at the plough, and crowned him with a wreath of holly. One of 
his longest, as well as finest poems, is The Cottar's Saturday 
Night, which is written in the Spenserian stanza. Perhaps his 
most pathetic poem is that entitled To Mary in Heaven. It is 
of a singular eloquence, elevation, and sweetness. The first verse 
runs thus — 

" Thou lingering star, with lessening ray, 

That lov'st to greet the early morn, 
Again thou usher'st in the day 

My Mary from my soul was torn. 
O Mary ! dear departed shade ! 

Where is thy place of blissful rest ? 
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? 

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?" 

He is, as his latest critic says, " the poet of homely human nature ; " 
and his genius shows the beautiful elements in this homeliness ; and 
that what is homely need not therefore be dull and prosaic. 



18. Thomas Chatterton and William Blake are two minor 
poets, of whom little is known and less said, but whose work is of 
the most poetical and genuine kind. — Chatterton was born at Bristol 
in the year 1752. He was the son of a schoolmaster, who died before 
he was born. He was educated at Colston's Blue-Coat School in 
Bristol ; and, while at school, read his way steadily through every 
book in three circulating libraries. He began to write verses at the 
age of fifteen, and in two years had produced a large number of poems 
— some of them of the highest value. In 1770, he came up to Lon- 
don, with something under five pounds in his pocket, and his mind 
made up to try his fortune as a literary man, resolved, though he 
was only a boy of seventeen, to live by literature or to die. Accord- 
ingly, he set to work and wrote every kind of production — poems, 



412 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

essays, stories, political articles, songs for public singers ; and all the 
time he was half starving. A loaf of bread lasted him a week ; and it 
was " bought stale to make it last longer." He had made a friend of 
the Lord Mayor, Beckford ; but before he had time to hold out a hand 
to the struggling boy, Beckford died. The struggle became harder 
and harder — more and more hopeless ; his neighbours offered a little 
help — a small coin or a meal — he rejected all ; and at length, on the 
evening of the 24th August 1770, he went up to his garret, locked 
himself in, tore up all his manuscripts, took poison, and died. He 
was only seventeen. 

19. Wordsworth and Coleridge spoke with awe of his genius 
Keats dedicated one of his poems to his memory ; and Coleridge 
copied some of his rhythms. One of his best poems is the Min- 
strel's Roundelay — 

" sing unto my roundelay, 

drop the briny tear with me, 
Dance no more on holy-day, 
Like a running river be. 
My love is dead, 
Gone to his death-bed 
All under the willow-tree. 

" Black his hair as the winter night, 
White his skin as the summer snow, 
Red his face as the morning light, 
Cold he lies in the grave below. 
My love is dead, 
Gone to his death-bed 

All under the willow-tree." 



20. William Blake (1757-1827), one of the most original poets 
that ever lived, was born in London in the year 1757. He was 
brought up as an engraver ; worked steadily at his business, and 
did a great deal of beautiful work in that capacity. He in fact 
illustrated his own poems — each page being set in a fantastic design 
of his own invention, which he himself engraved. He was also 
his own printer and publisher. The first volume of his poems was 
published in 1783 ; the Songs of Innocence, probably his best, 
appeared in 1787. He died in Fountain Court, Strand, London, 
in the year 1827. 

21. His latest critic says of Blake : " His detachment from the 
ordinary currents of practical thought left to his mind an unspoiled 
and delightful simplicity which has perhaps never been matched in 
English poetry." Simplicity — the perfect simplicity of a child — 



SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 413 

"beautiful simplicity — simple and childlike beauty, — such is the chief 
note of the poetry of Blake. " Where he is successful, his work has 
the fresh perfume and perfect grace of a flower." The most remark- 
able point about Blake is that, while living in an age when the poetry 
of Pope — and that alone — was everywhere paramount, his poems 
show not the smallest trace of Pope's influence, but are absolutely 
original. His work, in fact, seems to be the first bright streak of the 
golden dawn that heralded the approach of the full and splendid 
daylight of the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge, of Shelley and 
Byron. His best-known poems are those from the ' Songs of Inno- 
cence ' — such as Piping down the valleys wild ; The Lamb ; The 
Tiger, and others. Perhaps the most remarkable element in Blake's 
poetry is the sweetness and naturalness of the rhythm. It seems 
careless, but it is always beautiful ; it grows, it is not made ; it 
is like a wild field-flower thrown up by Nature in a pleasant green 
iield. Such are the rhythms in the poem entitled Night :— = 

" The sun descending in the west, 
The evening star does shine ; 
The birds are silent in their nest, 
And I must seek for mine. 
The moon, like a flower 
In heaven's high bower, 
With silent delight 
Sits and smiles on the night. 

" Farewell, green fields and happy grove, 
Where flocks have ta'en delight ; 
Where lambs have nibbled, silent move 
The feet of angels bright : 
Unseen they pour blessing, 
And joy without ceasing, 
On each bud and blossom, 
On each sleeping bosom." 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE FIRST HALF OF THB NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1. New Ideas. — The end of the eighteenth and the beginning 
of the nineteenth century are alike remarkable for the new 
powers, new ideas, and new life thrown into society. The 
coming up of a high flood-tide of new forces seems to coincide 
with the beginning of the French Ee volution in 1789, when 
the overthrow of the Bastille marked the downfall of the old 
ways of thinking and acting, and announced to the world of 
Europe and America that the old regime — the ancient mode 
of governing — was over. Wordsworth, then a lad of nineteen, 
was excited . by the event almost beyond the bounds of self- 
control. He says in his "Excursion" — 

" Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. 
But to be young was very Heaven ! " > 

It was, indeed, the dawn of a new day for the peoples of 
Europe. The ideas of freedom and equality — of respect for 
man as man— were thrown into popular form by France ; they 
became living powers in Europe ; and in England they ani- 
mated and. inspired the best minds of the time — Burns, Cole- 
ridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Byron. Along with this high 
tide of hope and emotion, there was such an outburst of talent 
and genius in every kind of human endeavour in England, as 
was never seen before except in the Elizabethan period. Great 
events produced great powers ; and great powers in their turn 



FIKST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 415 

brought about great events. The war with America, the long 
struggle with Napoleon, the new political ideas, great victories 
by sea and land, — all these were to be found in the beginning 
of the nineteenth century. The English race produced great 
men in numbers — almost, it might be said, in groups. We had 
great leaders, like Nelson and Wellington; brilliant generals, 
like Sir Charles Napier and Sir John Moore ; great statesmen, 
like Fox and Pitt, like Washington and Franklin ; great en- 
gineers, like Stephenson and Brunei ; and great poets, like 
Wordsworth and Byron. And as regards literature, an able 
critic remarks : "We have recovered in this century the Eliza- 
bethan magic and passion, a more than Elizabethan sense of 
the beauty and complexity of nature, the Elizabethan music of 
language." 

2. Great Poets. — The greatest poets of the first half of the 
nineteenth century may be best arranged in groups. There 
were Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey — commonly, but 
unnecessarily, described as the Lake Poets. In their poetic 
thought and expression they had little in common; and the 
fact that two of them lived most of their lives in the Lake 
country, is not a sufficient justification for the use of the term. 
There were Scott and Campbell— both of them Scotchmen. 
There were Byron and Shelley — both Englishmen, both brought 
up at the great public schools and the universities, but both car- 
ried away by the influence of the new revolutionary ideas. 
Lastly, there were Moore, an Irishman, and young Keats, the 
splendid promise of whose youth went out in an early death. 
Let us learn a little more about each, and in the order of the 
dates of their birth. 



3. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born at Cocker- 
mouth, a town in Cumberland, which stands at the confluence of 
the Cocker and the Derwent. His father, John Wordsworth, was 
law agent to Sir James Lowther, who afterwards became Earl of 
Lonsdale. William was a boy of a stiff, moody, and violent temper; 
and as his mother died when he was a very little boy, and his father 
when he was fourteen, he grew up with very little care from his 



416 HISTOKY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

parents and guardians. He was sent to school at Hawkshead, in the 
Vale of Esthwaite, in Lancashire ; and, at the age of seventeen, pro- 
ceeded to St John's College, Cambridge. After taking his degree of 
B.A. in 1791, he resided for a year in France. He took sides with 
one of the parties in the Eeign of Terror, and left the country only 
in time to save his head. He was designed by his uncles for the 
Church ; but a friend, Raisley Calvert, dying, left him £900; and he 
now resolved to live a plain and frugal life, to join no profession, but 
to give himself wholly up to the writing of poetry. In 1798, he 
published, along with his friend, S. T. Coleridge, the Lyrical 
Ballads. The only work of Coleridge's in this volume was the 
"Ancient Mariner." In 1802 he married Mary Hutchinson, of 
whom he speaks in the well-known lines — 

" Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair, 
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair ; 
But all things else about her drawn 
From May-time and the cheerful dawn." 

He obtained the post of Distributor of Stamps for the county of 
Westmoreland; and, after the death of Southey, he was created 
Poet-Laureate by the Queen. — He settled with his wife in the 
Lake country ; and, in 1813, took up his abode at Rydal Mount, 
where he lived till his death in 1850. He died on the 23d of April 
— the death-day of Shakespeare. 

4. His longest works are the Excursion and the Prelude — both 
being parts of a longer and greater work which he intended to write 
on the growth of his own mind. His best poems are his shorter 
pieces, such as the poems on Lucy, The Cuckoo, the Ode to Duty, 
the Intimations of Immortality, and several of his Sonnets. He 
says of his own poetry that his purpose in writing it was " to console 
the afflicted; to add sunshine to daylight by making the happy 
happier; to teach the young and the gracious of every age to 
see, to think, and feel, and therefore to become more actively and 
securely virtuous." His poetical work is the noble landmark of a 
great transition — both in thought and in style. He drew aside 
poetry from questions and interests of mere society and the town 
to the scenes of Nature and the deepest feelings of man as man. 
In style, he refused to employ the old artificial vocabulary which 
Pope and his followers revelled in ; he used the simplest words he 
could find ; and, when he hits the mark in his simplest form of ex- 
pression, his style is as forcible as it is true. He says oi hie own 
verse — 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 417 

" The moving accident is not my trade, 
To freeze the blood I have no ready arts; 
'Tis my delight, alone, in summer shade, 
To pipe a simple song for thinking hearts." 

If one were asked what four lines of his poetry best convey the feel- 
ing of the whole, the reply must be that these are to be found in his 
" Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle," — lines written about " the 
good Lord Clifford." 

" Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, 
His daily teachers had been woods and rills, — 
The silence that is in the starry sky, 
The sleep that is among the lonely hills." 



5. Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet and novelist, the son of 
a Scotch attorney (called in Edinburgh a W.S. or Writer to H.M.'s 
Signet), was born there in the year 1771. He was educated at the 
High School, and then at the College — now called the University 
— of Edinburgh. In 1792 he was called to the Scottish Bar, or 
became an "advocate*" During his boyhood, he had had several 
illnesses, one of which left him lame for life. Through those long 
periods of sickness and of convalescence, he read Percy's 'Reliques 
of Ancient Poetry,' and almost all the romances, old plays, and epic 
poems that have been published in the English language. This 
gave his mind and imagination a set which they never lost all 
through life. 

6. His first publications were translations of German poems. In 
the year 1805, however, an original poem, the Lay of the Last 
Minstrel, appeared ; and Scott became at one bound the foremost 
poet of the day. Marmion, the Lady of the Lake, and other 
poems, followed with great rapidity. But, in 1814, Scott took it 
into his head that his poetical vein was worked out ; the star of 
Byron was rising upon the literary horizon ; and he now gave him- 
self up to novel- writing. His first novel, Waverley, appeared 
anonymously in 1814. Guy Mannering, Old Mortality, Hob 
Roy, and others, quickly followed; and, though the secret of the 
authorship was well kept both by printer and publisher, "Walter 
Scott was generally believed to be the writer of these works, and he 
was frequently spoken of as " the Great Unknown." He was made 
a baronet by George IV. in 1820. 

7. His expenses in building Abbotsford, and his desire to acquire 
land, induced him to go into partnership with Ballantyne, his printer, 
and with Constable, his publisher. Both firms failed in the dark 



4:18 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

year of 1826 ; and Scott found himself unexpectedly liable for the 
large sum of £147,000. Such a load of debt would have utterly 
crushed most men ; but Scott stood clear and undaunted in front of 
it. " Gentlemen," he said to his creditors, "time and I against any 
two. Let me take this good ally into my company, and I believe 
I shall be able to pay you every farthing." He left his beautiful 
country house at Abbotsford ; he gave up all his country pleasures ; 
he surrendered all his property to his creditors ; he took a small house 
in Edinburgh ; and, in the short space of five years, he had paid off 
,£130,000. But the task was too terrible.; the pace had been too hard ; 
and he was struck down by paralysis. But even this disaster did not 
daunt him. Again he went to work, and again he had a paralytic 
stroke. At last, however, he was obliged to give up ; the Govern- 
ment of the day placed a royal frigate at his disposal ; he went to 
Italy ; but his health had utterly broken down, he felt he could get 
no good from the air of the south, and he turned his face towards 
home to die. He breathed his last breath at Abbotsford, in sight of 
his beloved Tweed, with his family around him, on the 21st of Sep- 
tember 1832. - 

8. His poetry is the poetry of action. In ^imaginative power he 
ranks below no other poet, except Homer and Shakespeare. He 
delighted in war, in its movement, its pageantry, and its events ; 
and, though lame, he was quartermaster of a volunteer corps of 
cavalry. On one occasion he rode to muster one hundred miles in 
twenty-four hours, composing verses by the way. Much of " Marmion " 
was composed on horseback. " I had many a grand gallop," he says, 
" when I was thinking of ' Marmion/ " His two chief powers in verse 
are his narrative and his pictorial power. His boyhood was passed 
in the Borderland of Scotland — " a district in which every field has 
its battle and every rivulet its song ; " and he was at home in every 
part of the Highlands and the Lowlands, the Islands and the Borders, 
of his native country. But, both in his novels and his poems, he was 
a painter of action rather than of character. 

9. His prose works are now much more read than his poems ; but 
both are full of life, power, literary skill, knowledge of men and 
women, and strong sympathy with all j^ast ages. He wrote so fast 
that his sentences are often loose and un grammatical; but they are 
never unidiomatic or stiff. The rush of a strong and large life goes 
through them, and carries the reader along, forgetful of all minor 
blemishes. His best novels are Old Mortality and Kenilworth ; 
his greatest romance is Ivanhoe. 



10. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), a true poet, and 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 419 

a writer of noble prose, was born at Ottery St Mary, in Devonshire, 
in 1772. His father, who was vicar of the parish, and master 
of the grammar - school, died when the boy was only nine years 
of age. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, in London, where 
his most famous schoolfellow was Charles Lamb ; and from there 
he went to Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1793 he had fallen into 
debt at College ; and, in despair, left Cambridge, and enlisted 
in the 15th Light Dragoons, under the name of Silas Tomkins 
Comberbatch. He was quickly discovered, and his discharge soon 
obtained. While on a visit to his friend Eobert Southey, at 
Bristol, the plan of emigrating to the banks of the Susquehanna, in 
Pennsylvania, was entered on ; but, when all the friends and fellow- 
emigrants were ready to start, it w T as discovered that no one of them 
had any money. — Coleridge finally became a literary man and jour- 
nalist. His real power, however, lay in poetry ; but by poetry he 
could not make a living. His first volume of poems was published 
at Bristol, in the year 1796 ; but it was not till 1798 that the Rime 
of trie Ancient Mariner appeared in the • Lyrical Ballads.' His 
next greatest poem, Christabel, though written in 1797, was not 
published till the year 1816. His other best poems are Love; 
Dejection — an Ode ; and some of his shorter pieces. His best 
poetry was written about the close of the century: " Coleridge," 
said Wordsworth, "was in blossom from 1796 to 1800." — As a critic 
and prose- writer, he is one of the greatest men of his time. His best 
works in prose are The Friend and the Aids to Reflection. He 
died at Highgate, near London, in the year 1834. 

11. His style, both in prose and in verse, marks the beginning of 
the modern era. His prose style is noble, elaborate, eloquent, and 
full of subtle and involved thought ; his style in verse is always 
musical, and abounds in rhythms of the most startling and novel — ■ 
yet always genuine — kind. Christabel is the poem that is most 
full of these fine musical rhythms. 



12. Robert Southey (1774-1843), poet, reviewer, historian, 
but, above all, man of letters, — the friend of Coleridge and 
Wordsworth, — was born at Bristol in 1774. He was educated at 
Westminster School and at Balliol College, Oxford. After his mar- 
riage with Miss Edith Fricker— a sister of Sara, the wife of Cole- 
ridge — he settled at Greta Hall, near Keswick, in 1803 ; and resided 
there until his death in 1843. In 1813 he was created Poet- 
Laureate by George III. — He was the most indefatigable of writers. 
He wrote poetry before breakfast; history between breakfast and 



120 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

dinner ; reviews between dinner and supper ; and, even when taking 
a constitutional, he had always a book in his hand, and walked along 
the road reading. He began to write and to publish at the age of 
nineteen ; he never ceased writing till the year 1837, when his brain 
softened from the effects of perpetual labour. 

13. Southey wrote a great deal of verse, but much more prose. 
His prose works amount to more than one hundred volumes ; but his 
poetry, such as it is, will probably live longer than his prose. His 
best-known poems are Joan of Arc, written when he was nineteen ; 
Thalaba the Destroyer, a poem in irregular and unrhymed verse ; 
The Curse of Kehama, in verse rhymed, but irregular ; and 
Roderick, the last of the Goths, written in blank verse. He 
will, however, always be best remembered by his shorter pieces, 
such as The Holly Tree, Stanzas -written in My Library, and 
others. — His most famous prose work is the Life of Nelson. His> 
prose style is always firm, clear, compact, and sensible. 



14. Thomas Campbell (1777-1844), a noble poet and brilliant 
reviewer, was born in Glasgow in the year 1777. He was educated 
at the High School and the University of Glasgow. At the 
age of twenty-two, he published his Pleasures of Hope, which at 
once gave him a place high among the poets of the day. In 1803 
he removed to London, and followed literature as his profession ; 
and, in 1806, he received a pension of ,£200 a - year from the 
Government, which enabled him to devote the whole of his time to 
his favourite study of poetry. His best long poem is the Gertrude 
of Wyoming, a tale written in the Spenserian stanza, which 
he handles with great ease and power. But he is best known, 
and will be longest remembered, for his short lyrics — which 
glow with passionate and fiery eloquence — such as The Battle of 
the Baltic, Ye Mariners of England, Hohenlinden, and 
others. He was twice Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. 
He died at Boulogne in 1844, and was buried in Poets' Corner, 
Westminster Abbey. 



15. Thomas Moore (1779-1852), poet, biographer, and historian 
—but most of all poet — was born in Dublin in the year 1779. 
He began to print verses at the age of thirteen, and may be said, 
like Pope, to have "lisped in numbers, for the numbers came." 
He came to London in 1799, and was quickly received into 
fashionable society. In 1803 he was made Admiralty Registrar 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 421 

at Bermuda ; but he soon gave up the post, leaving a deputy 
in his place, who, some years after, embezzled the Government 
funds, and brought financial ruin upon Moore. The poet's friends 
offered to help him out of his money difficulties ; but he most 
honourably declined all such help, and, like Sir W. Scott, re- 
solved to clear off all claims against him by the aid of his pen alone. 
For the next twenty years of his life he laboured incessantly; and 
volumes of poetry, history, and biography came steadily from his 
pen. His best poems are his Irish Melodies, some fifteen or six- 
teen of which are perfect and imperishable ; and it is as a writer 
of songs that Moore will live in the literature of this country. 
He boasted, and with truth, that it was he who awakened for this 
century the long-silent harp of his native land — 

" Dear Harp of my Country ! in darkness I found thee, 
The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long, 
When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee, 
And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song." 

His best long poem is Lalla Rookh. — His prose works are little 
read nowadays. The chief among them are his Life of Sheridan, 
and 'his Life of Lord Byron. — He died at Sloperton, in Wiltshire, 
in 1852, two years after the death of Wordsworth. 



16. George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), a great English 
poet, was born in London in the year 1788, He was the only child 
of a reckless and unprincipled father and a passionate mother. He 
was educated at Harrow School, and afterwards at Trinity College, 
Cambridge. His first volume — Hours of Idleness — was published 
in ] 807, before he was nineteen. A critique of this juvenile work 
which appeared in the ' Edinburgh Review ' stung him to passion ; 
and he produced a very vigorous poetical reply in English Bards 
and Scotch Reviewers. After the publication of this book, Byron 
travelled in Germany, Spain, Greece, and Turkey for two years ; 
and the first two cantos of the poem entitled Childe Harold's 
Pilgrimage were the outcome of these travels. This poem at once 
placed him at the head of English poets ; " he woke one morning," 
he said, "and found himself famous." He was married in the year 
1815, but left his wife in the following year ; left his native 
country also, never to return. First of all he settled at Geneva, 
where he made the acquaintance of the poet Shelley, and where he 
wrote, among other poems, the third canto of Childe Harold and 
the Prisoner of Chillon. In 1817 he removed to Venice, where he 



422 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

composed the fourth canto of Childe Harold and the Lament of 

Tasso ; his next resting-place was Ravenna, where he wrote several 
plays. Pisa saw him next ; and at this place he spent a great deal 
of his time in close intimacy with Shelley. In 1821 the Greek 
nation rose in revolt against the cruelties and oppression of the 
Turkish rule ; and Byron's sympathies were strongly enlisted on the 
side of the Greeks. He helped the struggling little country with 
contributions of money ; and, in 1823, sailed from Geneva to take a 
personal share in the war of liberation. He died, however, of fever, 
at Missolonghi, on the 19th of April 3 824, at the age of thirty-six. 

17. His best-known work is Childe Harold, which is written in 
the Spenserian stanza. His plays, the best of which are Manfred 
and Sardanapalus, are written in blank verse. — His style is re- 
markable for its strength and elasticity, for its immensely powerful 
sweep, tireless energy, and brilliant illustrations. 



18. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), — who has, like Spen- 
ser, been called "the poet's poet," — was born at Field Place, near 
Horsham, in Sussex, in the year 1792. He was educated at Eton, 
and then at University College, Oxford. A shy, diffident, retiring 
boy, with sweet, gentle looks and manners — like those of a girl — 
but with a spirit of the greatest fearlessness and the noblest in- 
dependence, he took little share in the sports and pursuits of his 
schoolfellows. Obliged to leave Oxford, in consequence of having 
written a tract of which the authorities did not approve, he married 
at the very early age of nineteen. The young lady whom he 
married died in 1816 ; and he soon after married Mary, daughter 
of William Godwin, the eminent author of ' Political Justice.' In 
1818 he left England for Italy, — like his friend, Lord Byron, for 
ever. It was at Naples, Leghorn, and Pisa that he chiefly resided. 
In 1822 he bought a little boat — "a perfect plaything for the sum- 
mer," he calls it ; and he used often to make short voyages in it, and 
wrote many of his poems on these occasions. When Leigh Hunt 
was lying ill at Leghorn, Shelley and his friend Williams resolved 
on a coasting trip to that city. They reached Leghorn in safety; 
but, on the return journey, the boat sank in a sudden squall. 
Captain Roberts was watching the vessel with his glass from the 
top of the Leghorn lighthouse, as it crossed the Bay of Spezzia : a 
black cloud arose ; a storm came down ; the vessels sailing with 
Shelley's boat were wrapped in darkness ; the cloud passed ; the 
sun shone out, and all was clear again ; the larger vessels rode on ; 
but Shelley's boat had disappeared. The poet's body was cast on 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 423 

shore, but the quarantine laws of Italy required that everything 
thrown up on the coast should be burned : no representations could 
alter the law ; and Shelley's ashes were placed in a box and buried 
in the Protestant cemetery at Rome. 

19. Shelley's best long poem is the Adonais, an elegy on the death 
of John Keats. It is written in the Spenserian stanza. But this 
true poet will be best remembered by Ins short lyrical poems, such 
as The Cloud, Ode to a Skylark, Ode to the "West Wind, 
Stanzas written in Dejection, and others. — Shelley has been 
called " the poet's poet," because his style is so thoroughly transfused 
by pure imagination. He has also been called " the master-singer 
of our modern race and age ; for his thoughts, his words, and his 
deeds all sang together." He is probably the greatest lyric poet of 
this century. 



20. John Keats (1795-1821), one of our truest poets, was 
bom in Moorfields, London, in the year 1795. He was educated 
at a private school at Enfield. His desire for the pleasures of 
the intellect and the imagination showed itself very early at school ; 
and he spent many a half-holiday in writing translations from 
the Roman and the French poets. On leaving school, he was 
apprenticed to a surgeon at Edmonton — the scene of one of John 
Gilpin's adventures ; but, in 1817, he gave up the practice of surgery, 
devoted himself entirely to poetry, and brought out his first volume. 
In 1818 appeared his Endymion. The ' Quarterly Review ' handled 
it without mercy. Keats's health gave way ; the seeds of consump- 
tion were in his frame ; and he was ordered to Italy in 1820, as the 
last chance of saving his life. But it was too late. The air of Italy 
could not restore him. He settled at Rome with his friend Severn ; 
but, in spite of all the care, thought, devotion, and watching of his 
friend, he died in 1821, at the age of twenty-five. He was buried 
in the Protestant cemetery at Rome ; and the inscription on his 
tomb, composed by himself, is, " Here lies one whose name was writ 
in water." 

21. His greatest poem is Hyperion, written, in blank verse, on 
the overthrow of the " early gods " of Greece. But he will most 
probably be best remembered by his marvellous odes, such as the 
Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn, To Autumn, 
and others. His style is clear, sensuous, and beautiful ; and he has 
added to our literature lines that will always live. Such are the 
following : — 

" A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." . 



424 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

" Silent, upon a peak in Darien." 

" Then felt I like some watcher of the skies 
When a new planet swims into his ken. : ' 

" Perhaps the self-same song that found a path 
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, 
She stood in tears amid the alien corn." 



22. Prose-Writers. — We have now to consider the greatest 
prose-writers of the first half of the nineteenth century. First 
comes Walter Scott, one of the greatest novelists that ever 
lived, and who won the name of " The Wizard of the North " 
from the marvellous power he possessed of enchaining the 
attention and fascinating the minds of his readers. Two other 
great writers of prose were Charles Lamb and Walter Savage 
Landor, each in styles essentially different. Jane Austen, 
a young English lady, has become a classic in prose, because her 
work is true and perfect within its own sphere. De Quincey 
is perhaps the writer of the most ornate and elaborate English 
prose of this period. Thomas Carlyle, a great Scotsman, with 
a style of overwhelming power, but of occasional grotesqueness, 
like a great prophet and teacher of the nation, compelled states- 
men and philanthropists to think, while he also gained for him- 
self a high place in the rank of historians. Macaulay, also of 
Scottish descent, was one of the greatest essayists and ablest 
writers on history that Great Britain has produced. A short 
survey of each of these great men may be useful. Scott has 
been already treated of. 



23. Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834), a perfect English essayist, 
was born in the Inner Temple, in London, in the year 1775. 
His father was clerk to a barrister of that Inn of Court. Charles 
was educated at Christ's Hospital, where his most famous school- 
fellow was S. T. Coleridge. Brought up in the very heart of 
London, he had always a strong feeling for the greatness of the 
metropolis of the world. "I often shed tears," he said, "in the 
motley Strand, for fulness of joy at so much life." He was, indeed, 
a thorough Cockney and lover of London, as were also Chaucer, 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 425 

Spenser, Milton, and Lamb's friend Leigh Hunt. Entering the India 
House as a clerk in the year 1792, he remained there thirty-three 
years ; and it was one of his odd sayings that, if any one wanted to 
see his "works," he would find them on the shelves of the India 
House. — He is greatest as a writer of prose ; and his prose is, in 
its way, unequalled for sweetness, grace, humour, and quaint terms, 
among the writings of this century. His best prose work is the 
Essays of Elia, which show on every page the most whimsical and 
humorous subtleties, a quick play of intellect, and a deep sympathy 
with the sorrows and the joys of men. Very little verse came from 
his pen. " Charles Lamb's nosegay of verse," says Professor Dowden, 
" may be held by the small hand of a maiden, and there is not in it 
one flaunting flower." Perhaps the best of his poems are the short 
pieces entitled Hester and The Old Familiar Faces. — He retired 
from the India House, on a pension, in 1825, and died at Edmonton, 
near London, in 1834. His character was as sweet and refined as his 
style ; Wordsworth spoke of him as " Lamb the frolic and the 
gentle ; " and these and other fine qualities endeared him to a large 
circle of friends. 



24. Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), the greatest prose- 
writer in his own style of the nineteenth century, was born at 
Ipsley Court, in Warwickshire, on the 30th of January 1775 — the 
anniversary of the execution of Charles I. He was educated at 
Rugby School and at Oxford ; but his fierce and insubordinate 
temper — which remained with him, and injured him all his life — 
procured his expulsion from both of these places. As heir to a 
large estate, he resolved to give himself up entirely to literature ; 
and he accordingly declined to adopt any profession. Living an 
almost purely intellectual life, he wrote a great deal of prose 
and some poetry ; and his first volume of poems appeared before the 
close of the eighteenth century. His life, which began in the reign 
of George III., stretched through the reigns of George IV. and 
William IV., into the twenty-seventh year of Queen Victoria ; and, 
in the course of this long life, he had manifold experiences, many 
loves and hates, friendships and acquaintanceships, with persons of 
every sort and rank. He joined the Spanish army to fight Napo- 
leon, and presented the Spanish Government with large sums of 
money. He spent about thirty years of his life in Florence, where 
he wrote many of his works. He died at Florence in the year 1864. 
His greatest prose work is the Imaginary Conversations ; his best 
poem is Count Julian ; and the character of Count Julian has been 



426 HISTOKY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

ranked by De Quincey with the Satan of Milton. Some of his 
smaller poetic pieces are perfect ; and there is one, Rose Aylmer, 
written about a dear young friend, that Lamb was never tired of 
repeating : — 

" Ah ! what avails the sceptred race ! 
Ah ! what the form divine ! 
What every virtue, every grace ! 
Rose Aylmer, all were thine ! 

" Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes 
Shall weep, hut never see ! 
A night of memories and sighs 
I consecrate to thee." 



25. Jane Austen (1775-1817), the most delicate and faithful 
painter of English social life, was born at Steventon, in Hamp- 
shire, in 1775 — in the same year as Landor and Lamb. She wrote 
a small number of 'novels, most of which are almost perfect in 
their minute and true painting of character. Sir Walter Scott, 
Macaulay, and other great writers, are among her fervent admirers. 
Scott says of her writing : " The big bow-wow strain I can do myself, 
like any now going ; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary 
commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the 
description and the sentiment, is denied to me." She works out her 
characters by making them reveal themselves in their talk, and by 
an infinite series of minute touches. Her two best novels are Emma 
and Pride and Prejudice. The interest of them depends on the 
truth of the painting ; and many thoughtful persons read through 
the whole of her novels every year. 



26. Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859), one of our most brilliant 
essayists, was born at Greenheys, Manchester, in the year 1785. 
He was educated at the Manchester grammar-school and at 
Worcester College, Oxford. While at Oxford he took little share 
in the regular studies of his college, but read enormous numbers 
of Greek, Latin, and English books, as his taste or whim sug- 
gested. He knew no one ; he hardly knew his own tutor. " For 
the first two years of my residence in Oxford," he says, " I com- 
pute that I did not utter one hundred words." After leaving 
Oxford, he lived for about twenty years in the Lake country ; and 
there he became acquainted with Wordsworth, Hartley Coleridge 
(the son of S. T. Coleridge), and John Wilson (afterwards known as 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 427 

Professor Wilson, and also as the "Christopher North" of 'Black- 
wood's Magazine '). Suffering from repeated attacks of neuralgia, he 
gradually formed the habit of taking laudanum ; and by the time he 
had reached the age of thirty, he drank about 8000 drops a-day. 
This unfortunate habit injured his powers of work and weakened his 
will. In spite of it, however, he wrote many hundreds of essays and 
articles in reviews and magazines. In the latter part of his life, he 
lived either near or in Edinburgh, and was always employed in dream- 
ing (the opium increased his power both of dreaming and of mus- 
ing), or in studying or writing. He died in Edinburgh in the year 
1859. — Many of his essays Avere written under the signature of " The 
English Opium-Eater." Probably his best works are The Confes- 
sions of an Opium-Eater and The Vision of Sudden Death. 
The chief characteristics of his style are majestic rhythm and elabo- 
rate eloquence. Some of his sentences are almost as long and as sus- 
tained as those of Jeremy Taylor ; while, in many passages of 
reasoning that glows and brightens with strong passion and emotion, 
he is not inferior to Burke. He possessed an enormous vocabulary 
— in wealth of words and phrases he surpasses both Macaulay and 
Carlyle ; and he makes a very large — perhaps even an excessive — use 
of Latin words. He is also very fond of using metaphors, personifi- 
cations, and other figures of speech. It may be said without exaggera- 
tion that, next to Carlyle's, De Quincey's style is the most stimulating 
and inspiriting that a young reader can find among modern writers. 



27. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), a great thinker, essayist, 
and historian, was born at Ecclefechan, in Dumfriesshire, in the 
year 1795. He was educated at the burgh school of Annan, 
and afterwards at the University of Edinburgh. Classics and the 
higher mathematics were his favourite studies ; and he was more 
especially fond of astronomy. He was a teacher for some years after 
leaving the University. For a few years after this he was engaged 
in minor literary work ; and translating from the German occupied a 
good deal of his time. In 1826 he married Jane Welsh, a woman 
of abilities only inferior to his own. His first original work was 
Sartor Resartus ("The Tailor Eepatched"), which appeared in 
1834, and excited a great deal of attention — a book which has proved 
to many the electric spark which first woke into life their powers of 
thought and reflection. From 1837 to 1840 he gave courses of lec- 
tures in London ; and these lectures were listened to by the best and 
most thoughtful of the London people. The most striking series 
afterwards appeared in the form of a book, under the title of Heroes 



428 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

and Hero-Worship. Perhaps his most remarkable book — a book 
that is unique in all English literature — is The French Revolu- 
tion, which appeared in 1837. In the year 1845, his Cromwell's 
Letters and Speeches were published, and drew after them a large 
number of eager readers. In 1865 he completed the hardest piece of 
work he had ever undertaken, his History of Frederick II., com- 
monly called the Great. This work is so highly .regarded in 
Germany as a truthful and painstaking history that officers in the 
Prussian army are obliged to study it, as containing the best account 
of the great battles of the Continent, the fields on which they were 
fought, and the strategy that went to win them. One of the crown- 
ing external honours of Carlyle's life was his appointment as Lord 
Rector of the University of Edinburgh in 1866 ; but at the very time 
that he was delivering his famous and remarkable Installation Ad- 
dress, his wife lay dying in London. This stroke brought terrible 
sorrow on the old man ; he never ceased to mourn for his loss, and to 
recall the virtues and the beauties of character in his dead wife ; 
" the light of his life," he said, " was quite gone out ; " and he wrote 
very little after her death. He himself died in London on the 5th 
of February 1881. 

28. Carlyle's Style. — Carlyle was an author by profession, a 
teacher of and prophet to his countrymen by his mission, and a 
student of history by the deep interest he took in the life of man. 
He was always more or less severe in his judgments — he has been 
called " The Censor of the Age," — because of the high ideal which 
he set up for his own conduct and the conduct of others. — He shows 
in his historic writings a splendour of imagery and a power of dra- 
matic grouping second only to Shakespeare's. In command of words 
he is second to no modern English writer. His style has been highly 
praised and also energetically blamed. It is rugged, gnarled, dis- 
jointed, full of irregular force— shot across by sudden lurid lights of 
imagination — full of the most striking and indeed astonishing 
epithets, and inspired by a certain grim Titanic force. His sen- 
tences are often clumsily built. He himself said of them : " Perhaps 
not more than nine-tenths stand straight on their legs ; the remainder 
are in quite angular attitudes ; a few even sprawl out helplessly on 
all sides, quite broken-backed and dismembered." There is no 
modern writer who possesses so large a profusion of figurative lan- 
guage. His works are also full of the pithiest and most memorable 
sayings, such as the following : — 

" Genius is an immense capacity for taking pains." 

" Do the duty which lie3 nearest thee ! Thy second duty will already have 
become clearer." 



FIRST HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 429 

" History is a mighty drama, enacted upon the theatre of time, with suns 
for lamps, and eternity for a background. " 

"All true work is sacred. In all true work, were it but true hand-labour, 
there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the earth, has its summit in 
heaven." 

"Remember now and always that Life is no idle dream, but a solemn 
reality based upon Eternity, and encompassed by Eternity. Find out your 
task: stand to it: the night cometh when no man can work." 



29. Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), the most popu- 
lar of modern historians, — an essayist, poet, statesman, and orator, 
— was born at Rothley Temple, in Leicestershire, in the year 1800. 
His father was one of the greatest advocates for the abolition of 
slavery; and received, after his death, the honour of a monument in 
Westminster Abbey. Young Macaulay was educated privately, and 
then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied classics with great 
diligence and success, but detested mathematics — a dislike the conse- 
quences of which he afterwards deeply regretted. In 1824 he was 
elected Fellow of his college. His first literary work was done for 
Knight's 'Quarterly Magazine'; but the earliest piece of writing 
that brought him into notice was his famous essay on Milton, 
written for the ' Edinburgh Review ' in 1825. Several years of his 
life were spent in India, as Member of the Supreme Council ; and, on 
his return, he entered Parliament, where he sat as M.P. for Edin- 
burgh. Several offices were filled by him, among others that of 
Paymaster-General of the Forces, with a seat in the Cabinet of Lord 
John Russell. In 1842 appeared his Lays of Ancient Rome, 
poems which have found a very large number of readers. His 
greatest work is his History of England from the Accession 
of James II. To enable himself to write this history he read 
hundreds of books, Acts of Parliament, thousands of pamphlets, 
tracts, broadsheets, ballads, and other flying fragments of literature ; 
and he never seems to have forgotten anything he ever read. In 
1849 he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow ; and 
in 1857 was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Macaulay 
of Rothley — the first literary man who was ever called to the House 
of Lords. He died at Holly Lodge, Kensington, in the year 1859. 

30. Macaulay' s Style. — One of the most remarkable qualities in 
his style is the copiousness of expression, and the remarkable power 
of putting the same statement in a large number of different ways. 
This enormous command of expression corresponded with the extra- 
ordinary power of his memory. At the age of eight he could repeat 



430 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

the whole of Scott's poem of " Marmion." He was fond, at this early 
age, of big words and learned English ; and once, when he was asked 
by a lady if his toothache was better, he replied, " Madam, the agony 
is abated ! " He knew the whole of Homer and of Milton by heart ; 
and it was said with perfect truth that, if Milton's poetical works 
could have been lost, Macaulay would have restored every line with 
complete exactness. Sydney Smith said of him : " There are no 
limits to his knowledge, on small subjects as on great ; he is like a 
book in breeches." His style has been called " abrupt, pointed, and 
oratorical." He is fond of the arts of surprise — of antithesis — and of 
epigram. Sentences like these are of frequent occurrence : — 

"Cranmer could vindicate himself from the charge of being a heretic only 
by arguments which made him out to be a murderer." 

" The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but 
because it gave pleasure to the spectators. " 

Besides these elements of epigram and antithesis, there is a vast 
wealth of illustration, brought from the stores of a memory which 
never seemed to forget anything. He studied every sentence with 
the greatest care and minuteness, and would often rewrite para- 
graphs and even whole chapters, until he was satisfied with the 
variety and clearness of the expression. " He could not rest," it 
was said, " until the punctuation was correct to a comma ; until 
every paragraph concluded with a telling sentence, and every sen- 
tence flowed like clear running water." But, above all things, he 
strove to make his style perfectly lucid and immediately intelligible. 
He is fond of countless details ; but he so masters and marshals these 
details that each only serves to throw more light upon the main 
statement. His prose may be described as pictorial prose. The 
character of his mind was, like Burke's, combative and oratorical ; 
and he writes with the greatest vigour and animation when he is 
attacking a policy or an opinion. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1. Science. — The second half of the nineteenth eentury is 
distinguished by the enormous advance made in science, and in 
the application of science to the industries and occupations of 
the people. Chemistry and electricity have more especially 
made enormous strides. Within the last twenty years, chem- 
istry has remade itself into a new science ; and electricity has 
taken a very large part of the labour of mankind upon itself. 
It carries our messages round the world — under the deepest seas, 
over the highest mountains, to every continent, and to every 
great city; it lights up our streets and public halls; it drives 
our engines and propels our trains. But the powers of imagina- 
tion, the great literary powers of poetry, and of eloquent prose, 
— especially in the domain of fiction, — have not decreased because 
science has grown. They have rather shown stronger develop- 
ments. We must, at the same time, remember that a great deal 
of the literary work published by the writers who lived, or are 
still living, in the latter half of this century, was written in the 
former half. Thus, Longfellow was a man of forty-three, and 
Tennyson was forty-one, in the year 1850; and both had by 
that time done a great deal of their best work. The same is 
true of the prose-writers, Thackeray, Dickens, and Buskin. 

2. Poets and Prose-Writers. — The six greatest poets of the 
latter half of this century are Longfellow, a distinguished 
American poet, Tennyson, Mrs Browning, Robert Brown- 



432 HISTOKY OF ENGLISH LITEEATUEE. 

ing, William Morris, and Matthew Arnold. Of these, Mrs 
Browning and Longfellow are dead — Mrs Browning having died 
in 1861, and Longfellow in 1882. — The four greatest writers of 
Uprose are Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, and Ruskin. 
Of these, only Ruskin is alive. 



3. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), the most 
popular of American poets, and as popular in Great Britain as he 
is in the United States, was born at Portland, Maine, in the year 
1807. He was educated at Bowdoin College, and took his degree 
there in the year 1825. His profession was to have been the law; 
but, from the first, the whole bent of his talents and character was 
literary. At the extraordinary age of eighteen the professorship of 
modern languages in his own college was offered to him ; it was 
eagerly accepted, and in order to qualify himself for his duties, he 
spent the next four years in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. 
His first important prose work was Outre-Mer, or a Pilgrimage 
beyond the Sea. In 1837 he was offered the Chair of Modern 
Languages and Literature in Harvard University, and he again paid 
a visit to Europe — this time giving his thoughts and study chiefly to 
Germany, Denmark, and Scandinavia. In 1839 he published the 
prose romance called Hyperion. But it was not as a prose-writer 
that Longfellow gained the secure place he has in the hearts of the 
English-speaking peoples ; it was as a poet. His first volume of 
poems was called Voices of the Wight, and appeared in 1841 ; 
Evangeline was published in 1848 ; and Hiawatha, on which his 
poetical reputation is perhaps most firmly based, in 1855. Many 
other volumes of poetry — both original and translations — have also 
come from his pen ; but these are the best. The University of Ox- 
ford created him Doctor of Civil Law in 1869. He died at Cambridge 
m the year 1882. A man of singularly mild and gentle character, of 
sweet and charming manners, his own lines may be applied to him 
with perfect appropriateness — 

" His gracious presence upon earth 
Was as a fire upon a hearth ; 
As pleasant songs, at morning sung, 
The words that dropped from his sweet tongue 
Strengthened our hearts, or — heard at night — 
Made all our slumbers soft and light." 

4. Longfellow's Style. — In one of his prose works, Longfellow 
himself says, " In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 433 

supreme excellence is simplicity." This simplicity he steadily aimed 
at, and in almost all his writings reached ; and the result is the 
sweet lucidity which is manifest in his best poems. His verse has 
been characterised as "simple, musical, sincere, sympathetic, clear 
as crystal, and pure as snow." He has written in a great variety 
of measures — in more, perhaps, than have been emploj^ed by 
Tennyson himself. His " Evangeline " is written in a kind of 
dactylic hexameter, which does not always scan, but which is almost 
always musical and impressive — 

" Fair was she and young, when in hope began the long journey; 
Faded was she and old, when in disappointment it ended." 

The " Hiawatha," again, is written in a trochaic measure — each verse 
containing four trochees — ■ 

" ' Farewell ! ' said he, " Minnehaha, 
Farewell, my laughing water ! 
All my heart is buried with you, 
All' my I thou'ghts go | on'ward | wi'th you ! ' " 

He is always careful and painstaking with his rhythm and with the 
cadence of his verse. It may be said with truth that Longfellow 
has taught more people to love poetry than any other English writer, 
however great. 



5. Alfred Tennyson, a great English poet, who has written 
beautiful poetry for more than fifty years, was born at Somersby, 
in Lincolnshire, in the year 1809. He is the youngest of three 
brothers, all of whom are poets. He was educated at Cambridge, 
and some of his poems have shown, in a striking light, the forgotten 
beauty of the fens and flats of Cambridge and Lincolnshire. In 1829 
he obtained the Chancellor's medal for a poem on " Timbuctoo." Ir 
1830 he published his first volume, with the title of Poems chiefly 
Lyrical — a volume which contained, among other beautiful verses, 
the " Kecollections of the Arabian Nights " and " The Dying Swan." 
In 1833 he issued another volume, called simply Poems ; and this 
contained the exquisite poems entitled " The Miller's Daughter" and 
" The Lotos-Eaters." The Princess, a poem as remarkable for its 
striking thoughts as for its perfection of language, appeared in 1847. 
The In Memoriam, a long series of short poems in memory of his 
dear friend, Arthur Henry Hall am, the son of Hallam the historian, 
was published in the year 1850. When Wordsworth died in 1850, 
Tennyson was appointed to the office of Poet-Laureate. This office, 
from the time when Dryden was forced to resign it in 1689, to the 



434 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

time when Southey accepted it in 1813, had always been held by 
third or fourth rate writers ; in the present day it is held by the man 
who has done the largest amount of the best poetical work. The 
Idylls of the King appeared in 1859. This series of poems — per- 
haps his greatest — contains the stories of "Arthur and the Knights 
of the Bound Table." Many other volumes of poems have been given 
by him to the world. In his old age he has taken to the writing of 
ballads and dramas. His ballad of The Revenge is one of the 
noblest and most vigorous poems that England has ever seen. The 
dramas of Harold, Queen Mary, and Becket, are perhaps his 
best ; and the last was written when the poet had reached the age 
of seventy-four. In the year 1882 he was created Baron Tennyson, 
and called to the House of Peers. 

6. Tennyson's Style. — Tennyson has been to the last two gener- 
ations of Englishmen the national teacher of poetry. He has tried 
many new measures ; he has ventured on many new rhythms ; and 
he has succeeded in them all. He is at home equally in the slowest, 
most tranquil, and most meditative of rhythms, and in the rapidest 
and most impulsive. Let us look at the following lines as an 
example of the first. The poem is written on a woman who is 
dying of a lingering disease — 

" Fair is her cottage in its place, 

Where yon broad water sweetly slowly glides: 
It sees itself from thatch to base 
Dream in the sliding tides. 

" And fairer she : but, ah ! how soon to die ! 
Her quiet dream of life this hour may cease : 
Her peaceful being slowly passes by 
To some more perfect peace." 

The very next poem, " The Sailor Boy," in the same volume, is — 
though written in exactly the same measure — driven on with the 
most rapid march and vigorous rhythm — 

" He rose at dawn and, fired with hope, 
Shot o'er the seething harbour-bar, 
And reached the ship and caught the rope 
And whistled to the morning-star." 

And this is a striking and prominent characteristic of all Tennyson's 
poetry. Everywhere the sound is made to be " an echo to the sense " ; 
the style is in perfect keeping with the matter. In the " Lotos- 
Eaters," we have the sense of complete indolence and deep repose 
in — 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 435 

" A land of streams ! Some, like a downward smoke, 
Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go." 

In the " Boadicea," we have the rush and the shock of •battle, the 
closing of legions, the hurtle of arms and the clash of armed men — 

" Phantom sound of blows descending, moan of an enemy massacred, 
Phantom wail of women and children, multitudinous agonies." 

Many of Tennyson's sweetest and most pathetic lines have gone right 
into the heart of the nati-on, such as — 

" But oh for the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still ! " 

All his language is highly polished, ornate, rich — sometimes Spen- 
serian in luxuriant imagery and sweet music, sometimes even Homeric 
in massiveness and severe simplicity. Thus, in the " Morte d' Arthur," 
he speaks of the knight walking to the lake as — 

" Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walked, 
Larger than human on the frozen hills." 

Many of his pithy lines have taken root in the memory of the Eng- 
lish people, such as these — 

" 'Tis better to have loved and lost, 
Than never to have loved at all." 

" For words, like Nature, half reveal, 
And half conceal, the soul within." 

" Kind hearts are more than coronets, 
And simple faith than Norman blood." 



V. Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, afterwards Mrs Browning, the 
greatest poetess of this century, was born in London in the year 
1809. She wrote verses " at the age of eight— and earlier," she 
says ; and her first volume of poems was published when she was 
seventeen. When still a girl, she broke a blood-vessel upon the 
lungs, was ordered to a warmer climate than that of London ; and 
her brother, whom she loved very dearly, took her down to Tor- 
quay. There a terrible tragedy was enacted before her eyes. One 
day the weather and the water looked very tempting ; her brother 
took a sailing-boat for a short cruise in Torbay ; the boat went down 
in front of the house, and in view of his sister ; the body was never 
recovered. This sad event completely destroyed her already weak 
health ; she returned to London, and spent several years in a dark- 
ened room. Here she " read almost every book worth reading in 



4&S HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

almost every language, and gave herself heart and soul to that 
poetry of which she seemed born to be the priestess." This way of 
life lasted for many years ; and, in the course of it, she published sev- 
eral volumes of noble verse. In 184G she married Robert Browning, 
also a great poet. In 1856 she brought out Aurora Leigh, her 
longest, and probably also her greatest, poem. Mr Ruskin called 
it " the greatest poem which the century has produced in any lan- 
guage ; " but this is going too far. — Mrs Browning will probably be 
longest remembered by her incomparable sonnets and by her lyrics, 
which are full of pathos and passion. Perhaps her two finest poems 
in this kind are the Cry of the Children and Cowper's Grave. 
All her poems show an enormous power of eloquent, penetrating, and 
picturesque language ; and many of them are melodious with a rich 
and wonderful music. She died in 1861. 



8. Robert Browning, the most daring and original poet of the 
century, was born in Camberwell, a southern suburb of London, in 
the year 1812. He was privately educated. In 1836 he published 
his first poem Paracelsus, which many wondered at, but few read. 
It was the story of a man who had lost his way in the mazes of 
thought about life, — about its why and wherefore, — about this world 
and the next, — about himself and his relations to God and his fellow- 
men. Mr Browning has written many plays, but they are more fit 
for reading in the study than for acting on the stage. His greatest 
work is The Ring and the Book ; and it is most probably by this 
that his name will live in future ages. Of his minor poems, the best 
known and most popular is The Pied Piper of Hamelin — a poem 
which is a great favourite with all young people, from the pictur- 
esqueness and vigour of the verse. The most deeply pathetic of his 
minor poems is Evelyn Hope : — 

" So, hush, — I will give you this leaf to keep — 
See, I shut it inside the sweet cold hand, 
There ! that is our secret ! go to sleep ; 

You will wake, and remember, and understand." 

9. Browning's Style. — Browning's language is almost always 
very hard to understand ; but the meaning, when we have got at 
it, is well worth all the trouble that may have been taken to reach 
it. His poems are more full of thought and more rich in experience 
than those of any other English writer except Shakspeare. The 
thoughts and emotions which throng his mind at the same moment 
so crowd upon and jostle each other, become so inextricably inter- 
mingled, that it is very often extremely difficult for us to make out 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 437 

any meaning at all. Then many of his thoughts are so subtle and so 
profound that they cannot easily be drawn up from the depths in 
which they lie. No man can write with greater directness, greater 
lyric vigour, fire, and impulse, than Browning when he chooses — 
write more clearly and forcibly about such subjects as love and war ; 
but it is very seldom that he does choose. The infinite complexity 
of human life and its manifold experiences have seized and im- 
prisoned his imagination ; and it is not often that he speaks in a 
clear, free voice. 



10. Matthew Arnold, one of the finest poets and noblest stylists 
of the age, was born at Laleham, near Staines, on the Thames, in the 
year 1822. He is the eldest son of the great Dr Arnold, the famous 
Head-master of Rugby. He was educated at Winchester and Rugby, 
from which latter school he proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford. 
The Newdigate prize for English verse was won by him in 1843 — ■ 
the subject of his poem being Cromwell. His first volume of 
poems was published in 1848. In the year 1851 he w T as appointed 
one of H.M. Inspectors of Schools; and he held that office up to the 
year 1885. In 1857 he was elected Professor of Poetry in the Uni- 
versity of Oxford. In 1868 appeared a new volume with the simple 
title of New Poems ; and, since then, he has produced a large 
number of books, mostly in prose. He is no less famous as a 
critic than as a poet ; and his prose is singularly beautiful and 
musical. 

11. Arnold's Style. — The chief qualities of his verse are clear- 
ness, simplicity, strong directness, noble and musical rhythm, and a 
certain intense calm. His lines on Morality give a good idea of his 
style :— 

" We cannot kindle when we will 

The fire that in the heart resides : 

The spirit bloweth and is still 

In mystery our soul abides : 

But tasks in hours of insight willed 
Can "be through hours of gloom fulfilled. 

*' With aching hands and bleeding feet 
We dig and heap, lay stone on stone ; 
We bear the burden and the heat 
Of the long day, and wish 'twere done. 

Not till the hours of light return, 

All we have built do we discern." 

His finest poem in blank verse is his Sohrab and Rusfrum — a tale 



438 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

of the Tartar wastes. One of his noblest poems, called Rugby 
Chapel, describes the strong and elevated character of his father, 
the Head-master of Rugby. — His prose is remarkable for its lucidity, 
its pleasant and almost conversational rhythm, and its perfection of 
language. 



12. William Morris, a great narrative poet, was born near London 
in the year 1834. He was educated at Marlborough and at Exeter 
College, Oxford. In 1858 appeared his first volume of poems. In 
1863 he began a business for the production of artistic wall-paper, 
stained glass, and furniture ; he has a shop for the sale of these 
works of art in Oxford Street, London ; and he devotes most of his 
time to drawing and designing for artistic manufacturers. His first 
poem, The Life and Death of Jason, appeared in 1867; and his 
magnificent series of narrative poems — The Earthly Paradise — 
was published in the years from 1868 and 1870. ' The Earthly 
Paradise ' consists of twenty-four tales in verse, set in a framework 
much like that of Chaucer's ' Canterbury Tales.' The poetic power 
in these tales is second only to that of Chaucer ; and Morris has al- 
ways acknowledged himself to be a pupil of Chaucer's — 

"Thou, my Master still, 
Whatever feet have climbed Parnassus' hill." 

Mr Morris has also translated the iEneid of Virgil, and several 
works from the Icelandic. 

13. Morris's Style. — Clearness, strength, music, picturesqueness, 
and easy flow, are the chief characteristics of Morris's style. Of the 
month, of April he says : — 

" O fair midspring, hesung so oft and oft, 
How can I praise thy loveliness enow? 
Thy sun that burns not, and thy "breezes soft 
That o'er the blossoms of the orchard blow, 
The thousand things that 'neath the young leaves grow 
The hopes and chances of the growing year, 
Winter forgotten long, and summer near." 

His pictorial power — the power of bringing a person or a scene fully 
and adequately before one's eyes by the aid of words alone — is as 
great as that of Chaucer. The following is his picture of Edward 
III. in middle age : — 

" Broad-browed he was, hook-nosed, with wide grey eyes 
No longer eager for the coming prize, 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 439 

But keen and steadfast : many an ageing line, 

Half-hidden by his sweeping beard and fine, 

Ploughed his thin cheeks ; his hair was more than grey, 

And like to one he seemed whose better day 

Is over to himself, though foolish fame 

Shouts louder year by year his empty name. 

JJnarmed he was, nor clad upon that morn 

Much like a king : an ivory hunting-horn 

Was slung about him, rich with gems and gold, 

And a great white ger -falcon did he hold 

Upon his. fist ; before his feet there sat 

A scrivener making notes of this and that 

As the King bade him, and behind his chair 

His captains stood in armour rich and fair." 

Morris's stores of language are as rich as Spenser's ; and he has much 
the same copious and musical flow of poetic words and phrases. 



14. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), one of the 

most original of English novelists, was born at Calcutta in the year 
1811. The son of a gentleman high in the civil service of the East 
India Company, he was sent to England to be educated, and was 
some years at Charterhouse School, where one of his schoolfellows 
was Alfred Tennyson. He then went on to the University of Cam- 
bridge, which he left without taking a degree. Painting was the 
profession that he at first chose ; and he studied art both in France 
and Germany. At the age of twenty-nine, however, he discovered 
that he was on a false tack, gave up painting, and took to literary 
work as his true field. He contributed many pleasant articles to 
' Fraser's Magazine,' under the name of Michael Angelo Titmarsh ; 
and one of his most beautiful and most pathetic stories, The Great 
Hoggarty Diamond, was also written under this name. He did 
not, however, take his true place as an English novelist of the first 
rank until the year 1847, when he published his first serial novel, 
Vanity Fair. Headers now began everywhere to class him with 
Charles Dickens, and even above him. His most beautiful work is 
perhaps The Neweomes ; but the work which exhibits most fully 
the wonderful power of his art and his intimate knowledge of the 
spirit and the details of our older English life is The History of 
Henry Esmond — a work written in the style and language of the 
days of Queen Anne, and as beautiful as anything ever done by 
Addison himself. He died in the year 1863. 

15. Charles Dickens (1812-1870), the most popular writer ot 



440 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

this century, was born at Landport, Portsmouth, in the year 1812. 
His delicate constitution debarred him from mixing in boyish sports, 
and very early made him a great reader. There was a little garret 
in his father's house where a small collection of books was kept ; 
and, hidden away in this room, young Charles devoured such books 
as the ' Vicar of Wakefield,' ' Robinson Crusoe/ and many other 
famous English books. This was in Chatham. The family next 
removed to London, where the father was thrown into prison for 
debt. The little boy, weakly and sensitive, was now sent to work 
in a blacking manufactory at six shillings a-week, his duty being to 
cover the blacking-pots with paper. " No words can express," he 
says, " the secret agony of my soul, as I compared these my everyday 
associates with those of my happier childhood, and felt my early hopes 
of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man crushed in my 
breast. . . . The misery it was to my young heart to believe that, 
day by day, what I had learned, and thought, and delighted in, and 
raised my fancy and my emulation up by, was passing away Irom 
me, never to be brought back any more, cannot be written." When 
his father's affairs took a turn for the better, he was sent to school ; 
but it was to a school where "the boys trained white mice much 
better than the master trained the boys." In fact, his true educa- 
tion consisted in his eager perusal of a large number of miscellaneous 
books. When he came to think of what he should do in the world, 
the profession of reporter took his fancy ; and, by the time he was 
nineteen, he had made himself the quickest and most accurate — that 
is, the best reporter in the Gallery of the House of Commons. His 
first work, Sketches by Boz, was published in 1836. In 1837 ap- 
peared the Pickwick Papers ; and this work at once lifted Dickens 
into the foremost rank as a popular writer of fiction. From this time 
he was almost constantly engaged in writing novels. His Oliver 
Twist and David Copperfield contain reminiscences of his own 
life ; and perhaps the latter is his most powerful work. " Like 
many fond parents," he wrote, "I have in my heart of hearts a 
favourite child ; and his name is David Goj)j)erjiddP He lived with 
all the strength of his heart and soul in the creations of his imagina- 
tion and fancy while he was writing about them ; he says himself, 
" No one can ever believe this narrative, in the reading, more than I 
believed it in the writing;" and each novel, as he wrote it, made 
him older and leaner. Great knowledge of the lives of the poor, and 
great sympathy with them, were among his most striking gifts ; and 
Sir Arthur Helps goes so far as to say, " I doubt much whether there 
has ever been a writer of fiction who took such a raal and living 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 441 

interest in the world about him." He died in the year 1870, and 
was buried in Westminster Abbey. 

16. Dickens's Style. — His style is easy, flowing, vigorous, pictur- 
esque, and humorous ; his power of language is very great ; and, 
when he is writing under the influence of strong passion, it rises 
into a pure and noble eloquence. The scenery — the external cir- 
cumstances of his characters, are steeped in the same colours as the 
characters themselves ; everything he touches seems to be filled with 
life and to speak — to look happy or sorrowful, — to reflect the feelings 
of the persons. His comic and humorous powers are very great ; 
but his tragic power is also enormous — his power of depicting the 
fiercest passions that tear the human breast, — avarice, hate, fear, 
revenge, remorse. The great American statesman, Daniel Webster^ 
said that Dickens had done more to better the condition of the 
English poor than all the statesmen Great Britain had ever sent into 
the English Parliament. 



17. John Ruskin, the greatest living master of English prose, an 
art-critic and thinker, was born in London in the year 1819. In his 
father's house he was accustomed " to no other prospect than that 
of the brick walls over the way ; he had no brothers, nor sisters, nor 
companions." To his London birth he ascribes the great charm that 
the beauties of nature had for him from his boyhood : lie felt the 
contrast between town and country, and saw what no country-bred 
child could have seen in sights that were usual to him from his 
infancy. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and gained the 
Newdigate prize for poetry in 1839. He at first devoted himself to 
painting ; but his true and strongest genius lay in the direction of 
literature. In 1843 appeared the first volume of his Modem 
Painters, which is perhaps his greatest work ; and the four other 
volumes were published between that date and the year 1 860. In 
this work he discusses the qualities and the merits of the greatest 
painters of the English, the Italian, and other schools. In 1851 he 
produced a charming fairy tale, c The King of the Golden River, or 
the Black Brothers. 5 He has written on architecture also, on politi- 
cal economy, and on many other social subjects. He is the founder 
of a society called " The St George's Guild," the purpose of which is 
to spread abroad sound notions of what true life and true art are, and 
especially to make the life of the poor more endurable and better 
worth living. 

18. Ruskin's Style. — A glowing eloquence, a splendid and full* 



142 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

flowing music, wealth of phrase, aptness of epithet, opulence of 
ideas — all these qualities characterise the prose style of Mr Ruskin. 
His similes are daring, but always true. Speaking of the countless 
statues that fill the innumerable niches of the cathedral of Milan, he 
says that "it is as though a flight of angels had alighted there and 
been struck to marble." His writings are full of the wisest sayings 
put into the most musical and beautiful language. Here are a 
few : — 

" Every act, every impulse, of virtue and vice, affects in any creature, face, 
voice, nervous power, and vigour and harmony of invention, at once. Perse, 
verance in Tightness of human conduct renders, after a certain number of gen* 
«rations, human art possible ; every sin clouds it, be it ever so little a one ; and 
persistent vicious living and following of pleasure render, after a certain numbei 
«of generations, all art impossible." 

" In mortals, there is a care for trifles, which proceeds from love and con- 
science, and is most holy ; and a care for trifles, which comes of idleness and 
frivolity, and is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity proceeding from 
dulness and mere incapability of enjoyment, which is most base." 

His power of painting in words is incomparably greater than that of 
any other English author : he almost infuses colour into his words 
and phrases, so full are they of pictorial power. It would be impos- 
sible to give any adequate idea of this power here ; but a few lines 
may suffice for the present : — 

11 The noonday sun came slanting down the rocky slopes of La Riccia, and 
its masses of enlarged and tall foliage, whose autumnal tints were mixed with 
the wet verdure of a thousand evergreens, were penetrated with it as with rain. 
i cannot call it colour ; it was conflagration. Purple, and crimson, and scarlet, 
like the curtains of God's tabernacle, the rejoicing trees sank into the valley in 
showers of light, every separate leaf quivered with buoyant and burning life ; 
each, as it turned to reflect or to transmit the sunbeam, first a torch and then 
an emerald." 



19. George Eltot (the literary name for Marian Evans, 1819- 

1880), one of our greatest writers, was born in Warwickshire in the 
year 1819. She was well and carefully educated ; and her own 
serious and studious character made her a careful thinker and a 
most diligent reader. For some time the famous Herbert Spencer 
was her tutor ; and under his care her mind developed with surpris- 
ing rapidity. She taught herself German, French, Italian — studied 
the best works in the literature of these languages ; and she was also 
fairly mistress of Greek and Latin. Besides all these, she was an 
accomplished musician. — She was for some time assistant-editor of 
the ' Westminster Review/ The first of her works which called the 



SECOND HALF OF NINETEENTH CENTURY. 443 

attention of the public to her astonishing skill and power as a 
novelist was her Scenes of Clerical Life. Her most popular 
novel, Adam Bede, appeared in 1859 ; Romola in 1863 ; and 
Middlemarch in 1872. She has also written a good deal of poetry, 
among other volumes that entitled The Legend of Jubal, and 
other Poems. One of her best poems is The Spanish Gypsy. 
She died in the year 1880. 

20. George Eliot's Style. — Her style is everywhere pure and 
strong, of the best and most vigorous English, not only broad in its 
power, but often intense in its description of character and situation, 
and always singularly adequate to the thought. Probably no novelist 
knew the English character — especially in the Midlands — so well 
as she, or could analyse it with so much subtlety and truth. She 
is entirely mistress of the country dialects. In humour, pathos, 
knowledge of character, power of putting a portrait firmly upon the 
canvas, no writer surpasses her, and few come near her. Her power 
is sometimes almost Shakespearian. Like Shakespeare, she gives us 
a large number of wise sayings, expressed in the pithiest language. 
The following are a few : — 

" It is never too late to be what you might have been." 
" It is easy finding reasons why other people should be patient. " 
" Genius, at first, is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.'* 
' ' Things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, half owing 
eo the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in un visited tombs." 

" Nature never makes men who are at once energetically sympathetic and 
minutely calculating." 

" To the far woods he wandered, listening, 
And heard the birds their little stories sing 
In notes whose rise and fall seem melted speech — 
Melted with tears, smiles, glances — that can reach 
More quickly through our frame's deep-winding night, 
And without thought raise thought's best fruit, delight." 



TABLES OP ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



(Author unknown.) 



CABDMON. 

A secular monk of 
Whitby. 
Died about 680. 



BAEDA. 

672-735. 

"The Venerable 
Bede," a monk of Jar- 
row-on-Tyne. 

ALFRED THE 
GREAT. 

849-901. 

King ; translator ; 
prose-writer. 



Compiled by monks 
in various monaster- 



ASSER. 
Bishop of Sher- 
oorne. Died 910. 



(Author unknotvn.) 



LAYAMON. 
1150-1210. 

A priest of Ernley- 
on-Severn. 



Works. 



Beowulf (brought over by- 
Saxons and Angles from the 
Continent). 

Poems on the Creation and 
other subjects taken from 
the Old and the New Testa- 
ment. 



An Ecclesiastical History in 
Latin. A translation of St 
John's Gospel into English 
(lost). 



Translated into the English 
of Wessex, Bede's Ecclesi- 
astical History and other 
Latin works. Is said to 
have begun the Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle* 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 875- 
1154. 



Life of King Alfred. 



A poem entitled The Grave. 



The Brut (1205), a poem on 
Brutus, the supposed first 
settler in Britain. 



Contemporary 
Events. 



Edwin (of Deira), 
King of the 
Angles, baptis- 
ed 627. 



First landing of 
the Danes, 787 



The University 
of Oxford is 
said to have 
been founded 
in this reign. 



John ascended 
the throne in 
1199. 



CjSN- 
TURIBfi 



500 



600 



700 



800 



900 



1000 



1100 



446 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



ORM or ORMIN. 



A canon of the Order 
of St Augustine. 



ROBERT OF 
GLOUCESTER. 



Works. 



I255-I307- 



ROBERT OF 
BRUNNE. 
1272-1340. 

(Robert Manning of 
Bran.) 



SIR JOHN 
MANDEVILLE. 
1300-1372. 

Physician ; travel- 
ler; prose-writer. 



JOHN BARBOUR. 

1316-1396. 

Archdeacon 
Aberdeen. 



of 



JOHN WYCLIF. 
1324-1384. 

Vicar of Lutter- 
worth, in Leicester- 
shire. 

JOHN GOWER. 
1325-1408. 

A country gentle- 
man of Kent; prob- 
ably also a lawyer. 

WILLIAM 
LANGLANDE. 

1332- 1400. 
Born in Shropshire. 



The Ormulum (1154), a set of 
religious services in metre. 



Chronicle of England in 

rhyme (1297). 



Chronicle of England in 

rhyme ; Handlyng Sinne 
(1303). 



The Voyaige and Travaile. 
Travels to Jerusalem, India, 
and other countries, written 
in Latin, French, and Eng- 
lish (1356). The first writer 
" in formed English." 



The Brnce (1377), a poem 
written in the Northern Eng- 
lish or "Scottish" dialect. 



Translation of the Bible from 
the Latin version ; and many 
tracts and pamphlets on 
Church reform. 



Vox Clamantis, Confessio 
Amantis, Specnlnm Medi- 
tantis (1393); and poems 
in French and Latin. 



Vision concerning Piers the 
Plowman — three editions 
(1362-78). 



Contemporary 

Events. 



Magna Charta, 

1215. 



Henry III. as 
cends the 
throne, 1216. 



University of 
Cambridge 
founded, 1231 



Edward I. as 
cends the 
throne, 1272. 

Conquest of 
Wales, 1284. 

Edward II. 
cends the 
throne, 1307. 



Battle of Ban- 
nockburn, 1314. 



Edward III. 
ascends the 
throne, 1327. 



Hundred Tears' 
War begins, 



Battle of Crecy, 
1346. 



The Black 
Death. ' 



1349. 
1361. 
1369. 



Battle of Poitiert, 

1356. 



First law-plead- 
ings in English, 
1362. 



Cen- 
turies. 



1200 



1300 



1350 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



44? 



Writers. 



Works. 



Contemporary 

Events. 



Cen- 

TCRIB6. 



GEOFFREY 
CHAUOER. 
1340-1400. 

Poet; courtier; 
soldier ; diplomatist ; 
Comptroller of the 
Customs : Clerk of the 
King's Works; M.P. 



JAMES I. OF 
SCOTLAND. 
1394-1437. 

Prisoner in Eng- 
land, and educated 
te here, in 1405-24. 



WILLIAM 
CAXTON. 
1422-1492. 

Mercer ; printer ; 
translator; prose- 
writer. 



WILLIAM 
DUNBAR. 
1450-1530. 

Franciscan or Grey 
Friar ; Secretary to 
a Scotch embassy to 
France. 



GAWAIN 
DOUGLAS. 

1474-1522. 

Bishop of Dunkeld, 
in Perthshire. 



WILLIAM 
TYNDALE. 
1484-1536. 

Student of theology; 
translator. Burnt at 
Antwerp for heresy. 



The Canterbury Tales (1384- 
98), of which the best is the 
Knightes Tale. Dryden 
called him " a perpetual 
fountain of good sense. " 



The King's Quair (=Book), 
a poem in the style of Chau- 



The Game and Playe of the 
Chesse (1474) — the first 
book printed in England ; 
Lives of the Fathers, "fin- 
ished on the last day of 
his life ; " and many other 
works. 



The Golden Terge (1501) ; the 
Dance of the Seven Deadly 
Sins (1507) ; and other 
poems. He has been called 
"the Chaucer of Scotland. " 



Palace of Honour (1501) ; 
translation of Virgil's JEneid 
(1513) — the first translation 
of any Latin author into 
verse. Douglas wrote in 
Northern English. 



New Testament translated 
(1525-34); the Five Books 
of Moses translated (1530). 
This translation is the basis 
of the Authorised Version. 



Richard II. as- 
cend s the 

throne, 1377. 



Wat Tyler's insur- 
rection, 1381. 



Henry IV. as 
cend s the, 
throne, 1399. 



Henry V. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1415. 

Battle of Agin- 
court, 1415. 

Henry VI. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1422. 

Invention or 
Printing, 1438- 
45. 



Jack Cade's in- 
surrection, 1450. 



End of the Hun- 
dred Years' War, 
1453. 



Wars of the 
Roses, 1455-86. 



Edward IV. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1461. 



1400 



1450 



Edward V. 
1483. 



kiBfc 



448 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



SIR THOMAS 
MORE. 
1480-1535. 

Lord High Chancel- 
lor ; writer on social 
topics ; historian. 

SIR DAVID 
LYNDESAY. 
1490-1556. 

Tutor of Prince 
James of Scotland 
(James V.); "Lord 
Lyon King-at-Arms ; " 
poet. 

ROGER ASCHAM. 
1515-1568. 

Lecturer on Greek 
at Cambridge ; tutor 
to Edward VI., Queen 
Elizabeth, and Lady 
Jane Grey. 

JOHN FOXE. 
1517-1587. 

An English clergy- 
man. Corrector for 
the press at Basle ; 
Prebendary of Salis- 
bury Cathedral; 
prose-writer. 

EDMUND 
SPENSER. 

IS52-I599. 

Secretary to Viceroy 
of Ireland; political 
writer; poet. 

SIR WALTER 
RALEIGH. 
1552-1618. 

Courtier ; states- 
man ; sailor ; colon- 
iser ; historian. 



RICHARD 
HOOKER. 

I553-i6oo. 

English clergyman ; 
Master of the Temple; 
Rector of Boscombe, 
in the diocese of Salis- 
bury. 



Works. 



History of King Edward V. 
and of his brother, and of 
Richard III. (1513) ; Utopia 
( = "The Land of No- 
where "), written in Latin ; 
and other prose works. 

Lyndesay'sDream(1528); The 
Complaint (1529) ; A Satire 
of the Three Estates (1535) 
— a "morality-play." 



Toxophilus (1544), a treatise 
on shooting with the bow ; 
The Scholemastre (1570). 
" Ascham is plain and strong 
in his style, but without 
grace or warmth." 



The Book of Martyrs (1563), 
an account of the chief Pro- 
testant martyrs- 



Shepheard's Calendar (1579) ; 
Faerie Queene, in six books 
(1590-96). 



History of the World (1614), 
written during the author's 
imprisonment in the Tower 
of London. 



Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity 
(1594). This book is an elo- 
quent defence of the Church 
of England. The writer, 
from his excellent judgment, 
is generally called "the 
judicious Hooker." 



Contemporary 
Events. 



Richard III. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1483. 



Battle of Bob- 
worth, 1485. 



Henry VII. as- 
cends the 
throne. 1485. 



Greek began to 
be taught in 
England about 
1497. 



Henry VIII. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1509. 

Battle of Flod- 
den, 1513. 

Wolsey Cardinal 
and Lord High 
Chancellor, 
1515. 

Sir Thomas More 
first layman 
who was Lord 
High Chancel- 
lor, 1529. 

Reformation in 
England begins 
about 1534. 

Edward VI. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1547. 

Mary Tudor 
ascends the 
throne, 1553. 



Cranmer burnt, 

1556. 



Elizabeth as- 
cends the 
throne. 1558. 



Cen- 
turies. 



1500 



1550 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



449 



SIR PHILIP 
SIDNEY. 
1554-1586. 

Courtier ; general 
romance-writer. 



FRANCIS BACON. 
1561-1626. 

Viscount St Al- 
bans ; Lord High 
Chancellor of Eng- 
land; lawyer; philo- 
sopher; essayist. 



WILLIAM 
SHAKESPEARE. 
1564-1616. 

Actor ; owner of 
theatre ; play-writer ; 
poet. Born and died 
at Stratford-on-Avon. 



BEN 



JONSON. 
IS74-I637. 



Dramatist 
prose-writer. 



poet. 



WILLIAM 

DRUMMOND ("of 

Hawthorndbn "). 

1585-1649. 

Scottish poet ; 
friend of Ben Jonson. 



THOMAS HOBBES. 

1588-1679. 

Philosopher; prose- 
writer ; translator of 
Homer. 



Arcadia, a romance (1580). 
Defence of Poesie, pub- 
lished after his death (in 
1595). Sonnets. 



Essays (1597); Advancement 
of Learning (1605); Novum 
Organum (1620) ; and other 
works on methods of inquiry 
into nature. 



Thirty - seven plays. His 
greatest tragedies are Ham- 
let, Lear, and Othello. His 
best comedies are Midsum- 
mer Night's Dream, The 
Merchant of Venice, and As 
You Like It. His best his- 
torical plays are Julius 
Ccesar and Richard ILL 
Many minor poems — chiefly 
sonnets. He wrote no prose. 



Tragedies and comedies. Best 
plays : Voljoone or the Fox; 
Every Man in his Humour. 



Sonnets and poems. 



The Leviathan (1651), a 
work on politics and moral 
philosophy. 



Contemporary De- 
Events, cam 



Hawkins begins 
slave trade in 

1562. 



Rizzio murdered, 
1566. 



Marlowe, Dek- 
ker, Chapman, 
Beaumont and 
Fletcher, Ford, 
Webster, Ben 
Jonson, and 
other drama- 
tists, were con- 
temporaries of 
Shakspeare. 



Drake sails round 
the world, 1577. 

Execution of 
Mary Queen of 
Scots, 1587. 



Raleigh in Vir- 
ginia, 1584. 

Babington's Plot, 
1586. 

Spanish Armada, 
1588. 



Battle of Ivry, 
1590. 



1560 



1570 



1580 



1590 



450 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



SIR THOMAS 
BROWNE. 
1605-1682. 

Physician at Nor- 
wich. 



JOHN MILTON. 
1608-1674. 

Student ; political 
■writer ; poet ; For- 
eign (or " Latin ") 
Secretary to Crom- 
well. Became blind 
from over-work in 
1654. 



SAMUEL BUTLER. 
16 12- 1 680. 
Literary man ; 
secretary to the Earl 
of Carbery. 



JEREMY TAYLOR. 

1613-1667. 

English clergyman ; 
Bishop of Down and 
Connor in Ireland. 



JOHN BUNYAN. 
1628-1688. 

Tinker and travel- 
ling preacher. 



JOHN DRYDEN. 
1631-1700. 

Poet - Laureate 
and Historiographer- 
Royal ; playwright ; 
poet; prose- writer. 



Works. 



Religio Medici ( = " The Re- 
ligion of a Physician ") ; 
Urn - Burial ; and other 
prose works. 



Minor Poems ; Paradise 
Lost; Paradise Regained; 
Samson Agonistes. Many 
prose works, the best being 
Areopagitica, a speech for 
the Liberty of Unlicensed 
Printing. 



Hudibras, a mock - heroic 
poem, written to ridicule 
the Puritan and Parliament- 
arian party. 



Holy Living and Holy Dy- 
ing (1649) ; and a number 
of other religious books. 



The Pilgrim's Progress 
(1678); the Holy War; and 
other religious works. 



Annus Mirabilis ( = "The 
Wonderful Year," 1665-66, 
on the Plague and the Fire 
of London) ; Absalom and 
Achitophel (1681), a poem 
on political parties ; Hind 
and Panther (1687), a re- 
ligious poem. He also 
wrote many plays, some 
odes, and a translation of 
Virgil's JEneid. His prose 
consists chiefly of prefaces 
and introductions to his 
poems. 



Contemporary 1 D*- 

EVENTS. \ CAPES. 



Australia dis j 3,600 
covered, 1601. j] 



James I. as- 
cends thu 
throne in 1603. 



Hamilton Court 
Conference fa, 
translation of 
Bible, 1604-11. 



Gunpowder Plojv 
1605. 



Execution ^« 
Raleigh, 1618 



Charles I. a». 
cend s thtf 
throne in 1625. 

Petition of Right, 
1628. 



No Parliament 
from 1629-40. 



Scottish National 
Covenant. 1638. 



Long Parliament, 
1640-53. 



Marston Moor, 
1644. 



Execution of 

Charles I., 1640. 



1610 



1620 



1630 



1640 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



JOHN LOCKE. 
1632- I 704. 

Diplomatist; Secre- 
tary to the Board of 
Trade ; philosopher ; 
prose-writer. 



DANIEL DEFOE. 
1661-1731. 

Literary man ; 
pamphleteer; journal- 
ist ; member of Com- 
mission on Union 
with Scotland. 



JONATHAN 

SWIFT. 
1667-1745. 

_ English clergyman ; 
literary man ; satir- 
ist; prose-writer ; 
poet; Dean of St Pat- 
rick's, in Dublin. 



SIR RICHARD 
STEELE. 
1671-1729. 

Soldier; literary 
man ; courtier ; jour- 
nalist ; M.P. 



JOSEPH ADDISON. 

1672-1719. 

Essayist ; poet ; Sec- 
retary of State for the 
Home Department. 



ALEXANDER 
POPE. 



1688-1744. 



Works. 



concerning the Hu- 
man Understanding (1690) ; 
Thoughts on Education ; 
and other prose works. 



The True-born Englishman 
(1701) ; Robinson Crusoe 
(1719) ; Journal of the 
Plague (1722) ; and more 
than a hundred books in 
all. 



Battle of the Books ; Tale of 
a Tub (1704), an allegory on 
the Churches of Rome, Eng- 
land, and Scotland ; Gulli- 
ver's Travels (1726) ; a 
few poems ; and a number 
of very vigorous political 
pamphlets. 



Steele founded the 'Tatler,' 
'Spectator,' 'Guardian,' and 
other small journals. He 
also wrote some plays. 



Essays in the 'Tatler,' 
'Spectator/ and 'Guardian.' 
Cato, a Tragedy (1713). 
Several Poems and Hymns. 



Essay on Criticism (1711); 
Rape of the Lock (1714) ; 
Translation of Homer's 
Iliad and Odyssey, finished 
in 1726; Dunciad (1729); 
Essay on Man (1739). A 
few prose Essays, and a 
volume of Letters. 



Contemporary 

Events. 


Dm- 

CADES. 


The Common- 
wealth, 1649-60. 


1650 


Cromwell Lord 
Protector, 1653- 
58. 




Restoration, 1660. 


1660 


First standing 
army, 1661. 




First newspaper 
in England, 
1663. 




Plague of Lon- 
don, 1665. 




Fire of London, 
1666. 




Charles II. pen- 
sioned by Louis 
XIV. of France, 

1674. 


1670 


The Habeas Cor- 
pus Act, 1679. 




James II. as- 
cends the 
throne in 1685. 


1680 


Revolution of 

1688. 




William III. and 
Mary II. ascend 
the throne, 1689. 




Battle of the 
Boyne, 1690. 


1690 



452 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



JAMES THOMSON. 
1700-1748. 

Poet. 



HENRY FIELDING. 

1707-1754. 

Police - magistrate ; 
journalist ; novelist. 



DR SAMUEL 
JOHNSON. 

1709-1784. 

Schoolmaster ; lit- 
erary man; essayist; 
poet; dictionary- 
maker. 



DAVID HUME. 

1711-1776. 

Librarian ; Secret- 
ary to the French Em- 
bassy ; philosopher ; 
literary man. 



THOMAS GRAY. 

1716-1771. 

Student; poet; let- 
ter-writer ; Professor 
of Modern History in 
the University of 
Cambridge. 

TOBIAS GEORGE 
SMOLLETT. 
1721-1771. 

Doctor; pamphlet- 
eer ; literary hack ; 
novelist. 



OLIVER 
GOLDSMITH. 

1728-1774. 
Literary man; play- 
writer ; poet. 



Works. 



The Seasons ; a poem in blank 
verse (1730) : The Castle of 
Indolence ; a mock - heroic 
poem in the Spenserian stan- 
za (1748). 



Joseph Andrews (1742); 
Amelia (1751). He was 
"the first great English 
novelist. " 



London (1738) ; The Vanity 
of Human Wishes (1749) ; 
Dictionary of the English 
Language (1755) ; Rasse- 
las (1759) ; Lives of the 
Poets (1781). He also 
wrote The Idler, The Ram- 
bler, and a play called Irene. 



History of England (1754- 
1762) ; and a number of 
philosophical Essays. His 
prose is singularly clear, 
easy, and pleasant. 



Odes; Elegy "Written in a 
Country Churchyard (1750) 
— one of the most perfect 
poems in our language. He 
was a great stylist, and an 
extremely careful workman. 



Roderick Random (1748) ; 
Humphrey Clinker (1771). 
He also continued Hume's 
History of England. He 
published also some Plays 
and Poems. 



The Traveller (1764); The 
Vicar of Wakefield (1766) ; 
The Deserted Village (1770); 
She Stoops to Conquer — a 
Play (1773) ; and a large 
number of books, pam- 
phlets, and compilations. 



CONTEM PORARY De- 

EVENTS. I CADES. 



Censorship of the 
Press abolished, 
1695. 

Queen Anne 
ascends the 
throne in 1702. 

Battle of Blen- 
heim, 1704. 

Gibraltar taken, 
1704. 



Union of Eng- 
land and Scot- 
land, 1707. 



George I. ascends 
the throne in 
1714. 



Rebellion i» Scot- 
land in 1715. 



South-Sea Bubble 
bursts, 1720 



George II. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1727. 



1700 



1710 



1720 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



453 



Writers. 



ADAM SMITH. 
1723- 1790. 
Professor in the 
University of Glasgow. 



EDMUND BURKE. 
1730-1797. 

M.P. ; statesman ; 
"the first man in the 
House of Commons ; " 
orator ; writer on po- 
litical philosophy. 



WILLIAM 
C W P E R. 
1731-1800. 

Commissioner in 
Bankruptcy ; Clerk of 
the Journals of the 
House of Lords ; poet. 



EDWARD GIBBON. 

1737-1794- 
Historian ; M.P. 



ROBERT BURNS. 
1759-1796. 

Farm - labourer; 
ploughman ; farmer ; 
excise-officer ; lyrical 
poet. 



Works. 



Theory of Moral Sentiments 
(1759); Inquiry into the 
Nature and Causes of the 
Wealth of Nations (1776). 
He was the founder of the 
science of political economy. 



Essay on the Sublime and 
Beautiful (1757) ; Reflec- 
tions on the Revolution of 
France (1790); Letters on 
a Regicide Peace (1797) ; 
and many other works. 
"The greatest philosopher 
in practice the world ever 



Table Talk (1782) ; John Gil- 
pin (1785) ; A Translation 
of Homer (1791) ; and many 
other Poems. His Letters, 
like Gray's, are among the 
best in the language. 



Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire (1776-87). 
"Heavily laden style and 
monotonous balance of 
every sentence." 



Poems and Songs (1786-96). 
His prose consists chiefly of 
Letters. "His pictures of 
social life, of quaint humour, 
come up to nature ; and 
they cannot go beyond it. " 



Contemporary 
Events. 



Rebellion in Scot- 
land, 1745, com- 
monly called 
"The 'Forty- 
five." 



Clive in India, 
1750-60. 

Earthquake at 
Lisbon, 1755. 

Black Hole of 
Caleutta, 1756. 



Db- 

CADBg. 



1730 



1740 



1750 



454 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



WILLIAM 
WORDSWORTH. 

1770- 1850. 

Distributor of 
Stamps for the coun- 
ty of Westmoreland ; 
poet; poet-laureate. 



SIR WALTER 
SCOTT. 
1771-1832. 

Olerk to the Court 
of Session in Edin- 
burgh; Scottish bar- 
rister ; poet ; novelist. 



SAMUEL TAYLOR 
COLERIDGE. 

1772-1834. 

Private soldier; 
journalist ; literary 
man ; philosopher ; 
poet. 

ROBERT 
SOUTHEY. 
1774-1843. 

Literary man; 
Quarterly Reviewer ; 
historian ; poet - lau- 
reate. 



CHARLES LAMB. 

1775-1834. 

Clerk in the East 
India House; poet; 
prose-writer. 



WALTER SAVAGE 
LANDOR. 

1775-1864. 
Poet; prose-writer. 



Works. 



Lyrical Ballads (with Cole- 
ridge. 1798) ; The Excursion 
(1814) ; Yarrow Revisited 
(1835), and many other 
poems. The Prelude was 
published after his death. 
His prose, which is very 
good, consists chiefly of 
Prefaces and Introductions. 



Lay of the Last Minstrel 
(1805) ; Marmion (1808) ; 
Lady of the Lake (1810) ; 
Waverley — the first of the 
" Waverley Novels " — was 
published in 1814. The 
" Homer of Scotland." His 
prose is bright and fluent, 
out very inaccurate. 

The Ancient Mariner (1798) ; 
Christabel (1816); The 
Friend — a Collection of Es- 
says (1812) ; Aids to Reflec- 
tion (1825). His prose is 
very full both of thought 
and emotion. 



Joan of Arc (1796) ; Thalaba 
the Destroyer (1801) ; The 
Curse of Kehama (1810) ; A 
History of Brazil; The 
Doctor — a Collection of Es- 
says ; Life of Nelson. He 
wrote more than a hundred 
volumes. He was "the most 
ambitious and the most vol- 
uminous author of his age." 

Poems (1797); Tales from 
Shakespeare (1806); The 
Essays of Elia (1823-1833). 
One of the finest writers of 
prose in the English lan- 
guage. 

Gebir (1798) ; Count Julian 
(1812) ; Imaginary Conver- 
sations (1824-1846) ; Dry 
Sticks Faggoted (1858). He 
wrote books for more than 
sixty years. His style is 
full of vigour and sustained 
eloquence. 



Contemporary 
Events. 



George III. as- 
cends the 
throne in 1760. 



Napoleon and 
Wellington 
born, 1769. 



Warren Hastings 
in India, 1772- 
85. 



American De- 
claration of 
Independence, 

1776. 



Alliance of 
France and 
America, 1773. 



De- 
cades. 



176C 



1770 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



404 



Writers. 



THOMAS 
CAMPBELL. 

1777-1844. 

Poet ; literary man ; 
'4itor. 



HENRY HALLAM. 
1778-1859. 

Historian. 



~HOMAS MOORE. 
1779-1852. 

Poet; prose-writer. 



THOMAS 
DE QUINCEY. 

I785-I8S9. 

Essayist. 



LORD BYRON 

(George Gordon). 
1788-1824. 

Peer ; poet ; volun- 
teer to Greece. 



Works. 



The Pleasures of Hope (1799); 
Poems (1803); Gertrude of 
Wyoming, Battle of the 
Baltic, Hohenlinden, etc. 
(1809). He also wrote some 
Historical Works. 



View of Europe during the 
Middle Ages (1818); Con- 
stitutional History of Eng- 
land (1827) ; Introduction 
to the Literature of Europe 
(1839). 



Odes and Epistles (1806) ; 
Lalla Rookh (1817); His- 
tory of Ireland (1827) ; Life 
of Byron (1830) ; Irish 
Melodies (1834) ; and many 
prose works. 



Confessions of an English 
Opium-Eater (1821). He 
wrote also on many subjects 
— philosophy, poetry, clas- 
sics, history, politics. His 
writings fill twenty volumes. 
He was one of the finest 
prose - writers of the 19th 
century. 



Hours of Idleness (1807) ; 
English Bards and Scotch 
Reviewers (1809) ; Childe 
Harold's Pilgrimage (1812- 
1818) ; Hebrew Melodies 
(1815) ; and many Plays. 
His prose, which is full of 
vigour and animal spirits, is 
to be found chiefly in his 
Letters. 



Encyclopaedia 
Br i tannica 
founded in 1778. 



Contemporary 

Events. 



Db- 

CADES. 



French Revolt*. 
tion begun in 



Bastille over- 
thrown, 1789. 



1780 



40 6 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



Works. 



CONTEMPORART De- 

EVENTS. CADES. 



PERCY BYSSHE 
SHELLEY. 

1792-1822. 
Poet. 



JOHN KEATS. 
1795-1821. 
Poet. 



THOMAS 
CARLYLE. 
1795-1881. 

Literary man; 
poet; translator; 
essayist ; reviewer ; 
political writer; his- 
torian. 



LORD 
MACAULAY 
(Thomas Babington). 
1800-1859. 

Barrister; Edin- 
burgh Reviewer; 
M.P. ; Member of the 
Supreme Council of 
India; Cabinet Minis- 
ter ; poet ; essayist ; 
historian; peer. 



Queen Mab (1810) ; Prome- 
theus Unbound— a Tragedy 
(1819) ; Ode to the Skylark, 
The Cloud (1820) ; Adonais 
(1821), and many other 
poems ; and several prose 
works. 



Poems (1817); Endymion 
(1818); Hyperion (1820). 
" Had Keats lived to the 
ordinary age of man, he 
would have been one of the 
greatest of all poets." 



German Romances— a set of 
Translations (1827) ; Sartor 
Resartus — " The Tailor 
Repatched " (1834) ; The 
French Revolution (1837) ; 
Heroes and Hero-Worship 
(1840) ; Past and Present 
(1843); Cromwell's Letters 
and Speeches (1845) ; Life 
of Frederick the Great 
(1858-65). "With the gift 
of song, Carlyle would have 
been the greatest of epic 
poets since Homer." 



Milton (in the 'Edinburgh 
Review,' 1825) ; Lays of 
Ancient Rome (1842) ; His- 
tory of England— unfinished 
(1849-59). "His pictorial 
faculty is amazing. " 



Cape of Good 
Hope taken. 

1795. 



Bonaparte in 
Italy, 1796. 



Battle of the 

Nile, 1798. 



Union of Great 
Britain and Ire- 
land, 1801. 

Trafalgar and 
Nelson, 1805. 



Peninsular War, 
1808-14. 



Napoleon's Inva- 
sion of Russia ; 
Moscow burnt, 
1812. 



War with United 
States, 1812-14. 



Battle of Water- 
loo, 1815. 

George IV. as- 
cends the 
throne, 1820. 

Greek War of 
Freedom, 1822- 



Byron in Greece, 
1823-24. 



Catholic Emanci- 
pation, 1829. 

William IV. as- 
c end s the 
throne, 1830. 



The Reform BilL 
1832. 



Total Abolition 
of Slavery, 
1834. 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



457 



Writers. 



LORD LYTTON 
(Edward Bulwer). 
1805-1873. 

Novelist; poet; 
dramatist; M. P. ; 
Cabinet Minister; 
peer. 



JOHN STUART 
MILL. 
1806-1873. 

Clerk in the East 
India House ; philos- 
ophej; political 
writer; M.P. ; Lord 
Rector of the IJni ver- 
ity of St Andrews. 



HENRY W. 
LONGFELLOW. 
1807-1882. 

Professor of Mod- 
ern Languages and 
Literature in Harvard 
University, U.S.; 
poet; prose-writer. 



LORD 
TENNYSON 
Alfred Tennyson). 
1809-1892 

Poet ; poet - laure- 
ate; peer. 



ELIZABETH B. 
BARRETT 

(afterwards 
Mrs Browning). 
1809-1861. 

Poet ; prose-writer ; 
translator. 



"Works. 



Ismael and Other Poems 
(1825); Eugene Aram 
(1831) ; Last Days of Pom- 
peii (1834) ; The Caxtons 
(1849); My Novel (1853); 
Poems (1865). 



System of Logic (1843) ; Prin- 
ciples of Political Economy 
(1848) ; Essay on Liberty 
(1858) ; Autobiography 
(1873). "For judicial calm- 
ness, elevation of tone, and 
freedom from personality, 
Mill is unrivalled among the 
writers of his time." 



Outre -Mer— a Story (1835); 
Hyperion— a Story (1839) ; 
Voices of the Night (1841) ; 
Evangeline (1848) ; Hia- 
watha (1855) ; Aftermath 
(1873). "His tact in the 
use of language is probably 
the chief cause of his suc- 
cess." 



Poems (1830) ; In Memoriam 
(1850); Maud (1855); Idylls 
of the King (1859-85); Queen 
Mary — a Drama (1875); 
Becket — a Drama (1884); 
The Foresters — a Drama 
(1892). 



Prometheus Bound — trans- 
lated from the Greek of 
^Eschylus (1833); Poems 
(1844); Aurora Leigh 
(1856) ; and Essays con- 
tributed to various maga- 
zines. 



Contemporary 

Events. 



Queen Victoria 
ascends the 
throne, 1837. 



Irish Famine, 
1845. 



Repeal of the 
Corn Laws, 
1846. 



Revolution in 
Paris, 1851. 



Death of Welling- 
ton, 1852. 



Napoleon III. 
Emperor of the 
French, 1852. 



De- 
cade*. 



1840 



Russian 
1854-56. 



War, 



Franco -Austrian 
War, 1859. 



Emancipation of 
Russian serfs, 
1861. 



Austro - Prussian 
"Seven Weeks' 
War." 1866. 



Suez Canal fin- 
ished. 1869. 



1850 



1860 



458 



TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



Writers. 



WILLIAM 
MAKEPEACE 
THACKERAY. 
1811-1863. 

Novelist; writer in 
r Funch ' ; artist. 



CHARLES 
DICKENS. 
1812-1870. 

Novelist. 



Works. 



ROBERT 
BROWNING. 

1812-18? 
Poet. 



JOHN RUSKIN. 
1819-1900. 

Art-critic ; essay- 
ist; teacher; literary 



GEORGE ELIOT. 
1819-1880. 

Novelist; poet; 

essayist. 



ALGERNON 

CHARLES 

SWINBURNE. 

1837- • 

Lyric poet ; drama- 
tist; prose-writer. 



The Paris Sketch-Book 
(1840) ; Vanity Fair (1847); 
Esmond (1852); The New- 
comes (1855) ; The Vir- 
ginians (1857). The great- 
est novelist and one of the 
most perfect stylists of the 
19th century. 



Sketches by Boz (1836) ; The 
Pickwick Papers (1837) ; 
Oliver Twist (1838) ; Nicho- 
las Nickleby (1838); and 
many other novels and 
works ; Great Expectations 
(1868). The most popular 
writer that ever lived. 



Pauline (1833); Paracelsus 
(1836) ; Poems (1865) ; The 
Ring and the Book (1869) ; 
and many other volumes of 
poetry. 



Modern Painters (1843-60); 
The Stones of Venice (1851- 
53) ; The Queen of the Air 
(1869) ; An Autobiography 
(1885) ; and very many other 
works. ' ' He has a deep, 
serious, and almost fanatical 
reverence for art. " 



Scenes of Clerical Life (1858); 
Adam Bede (1859); and 
many other novels down to 
Daniel Deronda (1876) ; 
Spanish Gypsy (1868) ; Le- 
gend of Jubal (1874). 



Atalanta in Calydon (1864) ; 
Poems and Ballads (three 
series, 1864, 78, and '87); 
and many other poems. 
"The greatest metrical in- 
ventor in English litera- 
ture." "His music is like 
no other man's." 



Contemporabt 
Events. 



Franco -Prussian 
War 1870-71. 



Third French Re- 
public, 1870. 



Rome the new 
capital of Italy, 
1871. 



Russo - Turkish 
War 1877-78. 



Berlin Congress 
and Treaty, 
1878. 



Leo XIII. made 
Pope in 1878. 



Assassination of 
Alexander II. 

1881. 



Arabi Pasha's Re- 
bellion, 1882-83. 



War in the Sou- 
dan, 1884. 



Murder of Gor- 
don, 1885. 



New Reform Bill, 



War of the 
U.S.A. against 
Spain, 1898. 

Anglo-Boer War, 
1899. 

Death of Queen 
Victoria, 1901. 



INDEX. 



PART I. 



Absolute, nominative, 66. 
Adjectives, 28. 

comparison of, 32. 
defective, 34. 
irregular, 33. 
compound, formation of, 117. 
demonstrative, 29. 
inflection of, 31. 
numeral, 29. 
qualitative, 28. 
quantitative, 29. 
suffixes to, English, 131. 

Latin and French, 138. 
syntax of, 71. 
Adjective pronouns (so-called), 29, I 
Adverbs, 57. 

classification of, 57. 
comparison of, 57. 

irregular, 58. 
formation of. 118. 
syntax of, 83. 
Alphabet, what it is, 7. 

conditions of a perfect, 7. 
the English, very defective, 7, 8. 
Analysis of sentences, 86-115. 
complex sentence, IOC. 
(cautions), 107. 
mapping-out of, 109. 
compound sentence, 111. 
'•continuous*' method of, 111. 
" pigeon-hole " method of, 110. 
simple sentence, 87. 
(cautions) , 93. 
mapping-out of/100, 
Anomalous verbs, 53. 
Antecedent, 26. 
Apposition, 22. 
Articles (so-called), 29, 
Auxiliary verbs, 48, 53. 



Be, conjugation of, 50. 
Branching of words, 143-153. 

Cardinal numerals, 30. 
Case, 19. 

dative, 21. 

different cases, with their ases, 2Q 

nominacive, 20. 

objective, 22. 

possessive, 20. 

vocative, 20, 22. 
Cognate object, 22. 
Comparison of adjectives, 32. 

defective, 34. 

irregular, 33. 

of adverbs, 57. 

irregular, 58. 
Compound adjectives, formation of, 117 

adverbs, formation of, 119. 

nouns, formation of, 116. 

verbs, formation of, 118. 
Concord, rules of, 76. 
Conjugation of verbs, 42. 

specimen of full, 54. 
Conjunctions, 60. 

syntax of, 84. 
Conjunctive (or relative) pronouns, 26. 
Connectives, 58. 
Consonant, 5. 

sounds, table of, 6. 

Dative case, 21. 

syntax of, 69. 
Demonstrative adjectives, 29. 
Dentals, 5, 6. 

Derivation, word-building and, 116-171 
Derivations from English roots, 144. 

from Greek roots, 152. 

from Latin roots, 147. 



460 



INDEX. 



Derivations from names of persons, 
etc., 154. 
from names of places, 158. 
of words disguised in form, 161. 
of words greatly changed in mean- 
ing, 168. 
Diphthongs, 5. 

English inseparable prefixes, 120. 
roots and branches, 144. 
separable prefixes, 121. 
suffixes to adjectives, 131. 
to adverbs, 133. 
to nouns, 128. 
to verbs, 134. 
English language, grammar of, 4. 
origin and development of, 4. 
Etymology, 5, 8-63. 
Extension of predicate, 95. 

Factitive object, 22. 

French derivations, etc., included under 

Latin. 
Functions, words known by their, 61. 

Gender, 11. 

indicated by different words, 14. 

indicated by prefixes, 13. 

Indicated by suffixes, 12. 

Latin and French suffixes of, 13 
Gerund, 39. 

Gerundial infinitive, 82. 
Government of verbs, 78. 
Grammar, 4. 

of letters, T. 

of sounds, 5. 

of words, 8-63. 

parts of, 4. 
Greek prefixes, 126. 

roots, 152. 

suffixes, 141. 
Gutturals, 5, 6. 

Have, conjugation of, 49. 

Inflexion of adjectives, 31. 

of nouns, 11. 

of pronouns, 24, 25. 

of verbs, 36. 
Inseparable prefixes, English, 120. 
Interjections, 60. 
Interrogative pronouns, 25. 
krtransitive verbs, 35. 



Irregular weak verbs, 46, 

Kinds of words, 8. 

known by functions, 61. 

Labials, 5, 6. 
Language, what it is, 3. 

spoken and written, 8. 
Latin prefixes, 123. 

roots, 147. 

suffixes to adjectives, 138. 
to nouns, 134. 
to verbs, 141. 
Letters, grammar of, 7, 

redundant, 8. 

Moods, 38. 

syntax of, 80. 
Mutes, 5, 6. 

Nominative case, 20 

absolute, 66. 

of address, 97. 

syntax of, 64. 
Nouns, 9. 

abstract, 10. 

classification of, 9. 

class-names, 10. 

collective, 10. 

common, 10. 

compound, formation of, 116. 

English suffixes to, 128. 

inflexions of, 11. 

Latin and French suffixes to, 134. 

proper, 9. 

syntax of, 64-71. 
Number of nouns, 15. 

of verbs, 42. 
Numeral adjectives, 29. 
Numerals, 30. 

Object, cognate, 22. 

factitive, 22. 

reflexive, 22. 
Objective case, 22. 

syntax of, 68. 
Ordinal numerals, 31. 
Orthography, 5. 

Palatals, 6. 
Participle, 40. 
Passive voice, 37. 
Person of verbs, 42. 
Persons, words derived from name* o£ 
154. 



INDEX. 



461 



k laces, words derived from names of, 

158. 
ilurals, false, 17. 

foreign, 18. 

modes of forming, 19. 

of compound words, 19. 

treated as singulars, 18. 

words, used only in their, 18. 

word J with two, 17. 
Possessive case, 20. 

syntax of, 67. 
Predicate of sentence, 89. 
Prefixes, 103. 

English inseparable, 120. 

English separable, 121. 

Greek, 126. 

Latin, 123. 

to indicate gender, 13. 
Prepositions, 58. 

list of special, 84. 

syntax of, 83. 
Pronouns, 23. 

indefinite, 27. 

inflexions of, 24, 25. 

interrogative, 25. 

personal , 23. 

reflexive, 25. 

relative (or conjunctiva), 26. 

syntax of, 74. 

Qualitative adjectives, 28. 
Quantitative adjectives, 29. 

Reflexive pronouns, 25. 

Relative (or conjunctive) pronouns, 26. 

Boots and branches, 143-153. 

English, 144. 

Greek, 152. 

Latin, 147. 

Sentences, analysis of, 86-115. 

contracted, 87. 

complex, 102. 

compound, 111. 

simple, 87. 
Separable prefixes, English, 121. 
Shall, conjugation of, 48. 
Sounds, grammar of, 5. 
Spirants, 6. 

Strike, conjugation of, 54. 
Strong and weak verbs, 43. 
Strong verbs, list of, 44. 
Subject, what it may consist of, 88. 



Suffixes, 128. 

English, to adjectives, 131. 

to adverbs, 133. 

to nouns, 128. 

to verbs, 134. 
Greek, 141. 
Latin, to adjectives, 138. 

to indicate gender, 13, 

to nouns, 134. 

to verbs, 141. 
to indicate gender, 12. 
Superlative degree, 32. 
Syntax, 5, 64-85. 

of the adjective, 71. 
of the adverb, 83. 
of the conjunction, 84. 
of the dative, 69. 
of the nominative, 64. 
of the noun, 64. 
of the objective, 68. 
of the possessive, 67. 
of the preposition, 83. 
of the pronoun, 74. 
of the verb, 76. 

Tense, 41. 

Transitive and intransitive verba, S5 

Verbs, 34. 

auxiliary, 36, 48. 

classification of, 35. 

compound, formation of, US> 

concord of, 76. 

conjugation of, 42. 

specimen of full, 54. 

defective, 53. 

government of, 78. 

inflexions of, 36. 

moods of, 38, 80. 

notional, 48. 

number of, 42. 

person of, 42. 

strong and weak, 43. 

strong, list of, 44. 

suffixes to, English, 134. 
Latin, 141. 

syntax of, 76. 

tense of, 41. 

voice of, 37. 

weak and strong, 43. 

weak, list of irregular, 46. 
two kinds of, 45. 
Vocative case, 20, 22. 



±62 



INDEX. 



Voice, active, 37. 

passive, 37. 
Vowel, 5. 

Weak and strong verbs, 43. 
Weak verbs, irregular, 46. 

two kinds of, 45. 
Will, conjugation of, 48. 



Word-branching, 143-153. 
Word-building and derivation, 116-17L 
Word from English roots, 144. 

from Greek roots, 152. 

from Latin roots, 147. 
Words, grammar of (Etymology) , 8-63 

kinds of, 8. 

known by their functions, 61. 



PART II. 



Abstract versus concrete, 183. 

Accents in verse, 194, 195. 

Accurate English, 178. 

Admiration, point of, 188. 

Adverb, position of the, 185. 

Alexandrine,, 199. 

Allegory, 191. 

Amphibrach, 196. 

Amphibrachic tetrameter, 200. 

Anapaest, 196. 

Anapaestic tetrameter, 200. 

And which, 186. 

Antecedent and Relative, to be clearly 

connected, 186. 
Antithesis, 182. 

Ballad metre, 198. 
Blank verse, 197. 
Brevity, 179. 

Caesura, 203. 

Circumlocution, 185. 

Clearness, 178. 

Coleridge's examples and descriptions 

of different metres, 201. 
Colon, 187. 
Comma, 188. 
Compactness, 179. 
Composition, hints on, 175. 

cautions, general, 184. 
special, 185. 

directions, general, 176. 
Concrete versus abstract, 183. 
Conjunctions, omission of, 181 
Couplet, 204. 

Dactyl, 196. 
Dactylic dimeter, 200. 

tetrameter, 200. 
Dash, 188. 



Defective lines, 201. 

Dependent, and principal sentence* 

not to be mixed up, 186. 
Detail, 184. 

Dimeter, dactylic, 200. 
Distinctness of style, 183. 

Elegiac verse, 204. 
Emphasis, 180. 
English, accurate, 178. 

flowing, 179. 

good, 176. 

pure, 177. 
Epigram, 182. 
Exaggerated language, 186. 
Exaggeration (hyperbole), 191. 
Exclamation, mark of, 181. 

Figures of speech, 189. 
Flowing English, 179. 
Foot (in verse), 195. 
Full stop, 187. 

Good English, 176. 

Hackneyed phrases, 184. 

Half-rhymes, 202. 

"Happy Life, The," — paraphrased, 

193. 
Heroic couplet, 204. 

verse, 197. 
Hexameter, 127. 

iambic, 198. 
Hyperbole (exaggeration) 3 191. 
Hypermetrical lines, 201. 

Iambic hexameter, 198. 
pentameter, 197, 198. 
tetrameter, 197, 196. 
trimeter, 197. 



INDEX. 



463 



Iambus, 195. 

Imperative mood, the use of, in compo- 
sition, 181. 
Interrogation, point of, 188. 
Interrogative form (for emphasis), 181. 
Inversion, 180. 

Loose sentence, 164, 180. 

Metaphor, 190. 

Metonymy, 191. 

Metres, examples and descriptions of 

the different, by Coleridge, 201. 
Misplaced phrases, 187. 
Mixed metaphors, 185. 

Octave (ottava rima) , 204. 

(in the sonnet) , 205. 
Octometer, trochaic, 199. 

Paraphrase of " The Happy Life," 193. 

Paraphrasing, 192. 

Parenthesis, 188. 

Participles, management of, 185. 

present, 185. 
Pentameter, 197, 198. 
Period (full stop), 187. 
Period (sentence), 179, 180. 
Periphrasis, 181. 
Personification, 190. 
Principal and dependent sentences, not 

to be mixed up, 186. 
Pronouns, management of, 184. 
Prosody (grammar of verse), 194-201. 
Punctuation, 187. 
Pure English, 177. 

Quatraia, 204. 

Relative and antecedent, to be clearly 

connected, 186. 
Repetition, 181, 182. 
Rhyme, 200. 
Rhythm, to be cultivated by reading 

aloud, 179. 



Semicolon, 1 17. 

Service metre, 198. 

Sestette, 205. 

Sextant, 204. 

Simile, 189. 

Simplicity, 178. 

Skeleton of theme to be written, 176. 

Sonnet, 205. 

Specification, 183. 

Spenserian stanza, 204. 

Spondee, 201. 

Stanza, 204. 

Subject of sentence, not to be changed, 

186. 
Suspense, 182. 
Synecdoche. 191. 
Synonyms, 178. 

Tautology, 185. 
Tetrameter, 197. 

amphibrachic, 200. 

anapaestic, 200. 

dactylic, 200. 

iambic, 197, 198. 

trochaic, 199. 
That and who distinguished, 186. 
Trimeter, 197. 
Triplet, 204. 

tetrameter, 204. 
Trochaic octometer, 199. 
Trochee, 195. 

Unrhymed (blank) verse, 197. 

Vague sentence, contrasted with specific, 

183. 
Verbosity, 179. 

Verse, different from Proso in two 
things, 194. 
grammar of (Prosody), 194-201. 

Which and and which, 186. 
Who and that distinguished, 186. 



PART III. 



African words in English, 341. 
American words in English, 341. 
Analytic English (= modern) , 317 
Ancient English, 277. 

synthetic, 317. 
Anglo-Saxon, specimen from, 328. 



Anglo-Saxon, contrasted with English 

of Wyclif and Tyndale, 329. 
Arabic words in English, 341. 
Aryan family of languages, 273. 

Bible, English of the, 334. 



464 



INDEX. 



Bilingualism, 300. 

Changes of language*, neversudden,276. 
Chinese words in English, 342. 

Dead and living languages, 276. 

Dialects of English, 316. 

Doublets, English and other, 314-316. 

Greek, 311. 

Latin, 308-311. 
Dutch and Welsh contrasted, 275. 

words in English, 338. 

English, 272. 

a Low-German tongue, 274. 

diagram of, 281. 

dialectB of, 316 . 

early and oldest, compared, 330. 

elements of, characteristics of the 

two, 312-314. 
English element in, 280. 
foreign elements in, 282. 
grammar of, its history, 317-327. 
its spread over Britain, 275. 
modern, 336-343. 
nation, 280. 
of the Bible, 334. 
of the thirteenth century, 332. 
of the fourteenth century, 333. 
of the sixteenth century, 334. 
on the Continent, 272. 
periods of, 276-279. 

marks which distinguish, 332. 
syntax of, changed, 323. 
the family to which it belongs, 273. 
the group to which it belongs, 273, 

274. 
vocabulary of, 280-316. 

Foreign elements in English, 282. 
French (new) words in English, 339. 
(Norman), see Norman-French. 

German words in English, 340. 
Grammar of English, 317-327. 

comparatively fixed (since 1485) , 

336. 
First Period, 318. 

general view of its history, 321. 
Second Period, 319. 

short view of its history, 317- 
321. 
Third Period, 320. 
Fourth Period, 320. 



Greek doublets, 311. 
Gutturals, expulsion of, 324-326. 

Hebrew words in English, 340.. 
Hindu words in English, 342. 
History of English, landmarks in, 344. 
Hungarian words in English, 342. 

Indo-European family, 273. 
Inflexions in different periods, com 
pared, 331. 

loss of, 317,318. 

grammatical result of loss, 326. 
Italian words in English, 337. 

Keltic element in English, 282-284. 

Landmarks in the history of English, 

344. 
Language, 271. 

changes of, 276. 
growth of, 271. 
living and dead, 276. 
spoken and written, 281. 
written, 271. 
Latin contributions and their datet, 287. 
doublets, 308-311. 
element in English, 286-311. 
of the eye and ear, 308. 
of the First Period, 288. 
Second Period, 289, 290. 
Third Period, 290-305. 
Fourth Period, 305-308. 
triplets, 311. 
Lord's Prayer, in four versions, 329- 



Malay words in English, 342. 
Middle English, 278. 
Modern English, 279, 336-343. 

analytic, 317. 
Monosyllables, 322. 

New words in English, 336-343. 
Norman-French, 290. 

bilingualism caused by, 300. 

contributions, general character oi 
298. 

dates of, 291-293. 

element in English, 290-305 

gains to English from, 299-302, 

losses to English from, 303-306, 

synonyms, 300. 

words, 294-298. 



INDEX. 



465 



Oldest and early English compared, 330. 
Order of words in English, changed, 



Periods of English, 276-279. 
Ancient, 277. 
Early, 277. 
Middle, 278. 
Tudor, 279. 
Modern, 279. 
grammar of the different, 317-327. 
marks indicating different, 332. 
specimens of different, 328-335. 
Persian words in English, 342. 
Polynesian words in English, 342. 
Portuguese words in English, 342. 

Renascence (Revival of Learning), 305. 
Russian words in English, 342. 

Scandinavian element in English, 284~ 

286. 
Scientific terms in English, 343. 
Spanish words in English, 337. 



Specimens of English of different 

periods, 328-335. 
Spoken and written language, 281. 
Syntax of English, change in, 323. 
Synthetic English (= ancient), 317. 

Tartar words in English, 342. 
Teutonic group, 273. 
Tudor English , 279. 
Turkish words in English, 342. 
Tyndale's English, compared with 
Anglo-Saxon and Wyclif, 329. 

Vocabulary of the English language, 
280-31 6. 

"Welsh and Dutch contrasted, 275. 
Words and inflexions in different 
periods, compared, 331. 
new, in English, 336-343. 
Written language, 271. 

and spoken, 281. 
"Wyclif's English, compared with Tyn. 
dale's and Anglo-Saxon, 329. 



PART IV. 



Addison, Joseph, 393. 
Alfred, 354. 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 354. 
Arnold, Matthew, 437. 
Austen, Jane, 426. 

Bacon, Francis, 377. 

Baeda (Venerable Bede), 353. 

Barbour, John, 363. 

Beowulf, 351. 

Blake, William, 412. 

Browning, Robert, 436. 

Browning, Mrs., 435. 

Brunanburg , Song of % 353. 

Brunne, Robert of, 357. 

Brut, 355. 

Bunyan, John, 387. 

Burke, Edmund, 404. 

Burns, Robert, 410. 

Butler, Samuel, 382. 

Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 421. 

Caedmon, 352. 
Campbell, Thomas, 420. 



Carlyle, Thomas, 427. 
Caxton, William, 366. 
Chatterton, Thomas, 411. 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 361. 

followers of, 365. 
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 418. 
Collins, William, 399. 
Cowper, William, 407. 
Crabbe, George, 409. 

Defoe, Daniel, 390. 
De Quincey, Thomas, 426. 
Dickens, Charles, 439. 
Dryden, John, 383. 

Eliot, George, 442. 

Gibbon, Edward, 405. 
Gloucester, Robert of, 367 
Goldsmith, Oliver, 403. 
Gower, John, 360. 
Gray, Thomas, 398. 

Hobbes, Thomas, 386. 
! Hooker, Richard, 374. 



466 



INDEX. 



James I. (of Scotland), 365. 
Johnson, Samuel, 401. 
Jonson, Ben, 373. 

Keats, John, 423. 

Lamb, Charles, 424. 

Landor, "Walter Savage, 425. 

Langlande, William, 360. 

Layamon, 355. 

Locke, John, 387. 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 432. 

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 429. 
Maldon, Song of the Fight at, 353. 
Mandeville, Sir John, 359. 
Marlowe, Christopher, 373. 
Milton, John, 381. 
Moore, Thomas, 420. 
More, Sir Thomas, 368. 
Morris, William, 438. 

Orm's Ormulum, 356. 

Pope, Alexander, 395, 397. 



Raleigh, Sir Walter, 376. 
Ruskin, John, 441. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 417. 
Shakespeare, William, 370, 379. 

contemporaries of, 372. 
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 422. 
Sidney, Sir Philip, 375. 
Southey, Robert, 419. 
Spenser, Edmund, 369. 
Steele, Richard, 394. 
Surrey, Earl of, 367. 
Swift, Jonathan, 391. 

Taylor, Jeremy, 385. 
Tennyson, Alfred, 433. 
Thackeray, William Makepeace, 439. 
Thomson, James, 397, 398, 
Tyndale, William, 368. 

Wordsworth, William, 415. 
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 367. 
Wyclif , John, 360. 



V 



1/ 



